Baby, Will You Wait for Me?
by clairlz
Summary: This is a redo and actually the second part of Family...most of you've already read it. Mick, Beth, Logan, Veronica and Josef deal with an ever changing family dynamic...Rated M for violence. Mick/Beth Logan/Veronica Josef/Sarah...
1. Chapter 1

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover. It follows Family, Possession, which followed Who Are You? Read them in order or you won't enjoy them near as much….**

 **A/N: This is the second half of what was originally Family. This first one is a bit short as I lopped it off the end of the last chapter of Family.**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

It turns out that Mick is right. Things do settle down.

Josef and Sarah do finally leave the comfort of their bedroom, if not somewhat reluctantly. He continues teaching Sarah all the things she needs to know about being a vampire. Mick begins training Veronica to take care of the business during the day so he can sleep and spend more time with Beth and Shannon. Beth as usual is busy taking care of Shannon and loving Mick. Everyone is busy except Logan…

Logan looks around the apartment wondering how Mick talked him into staying inside for two weeks. Hell, there isn't even any Internet access in the apartment yet and daytime TV is bleak. Logan goes to the apartment next door and knocks. Ben smiles when he sees Logan. "Hey come on in. I was just headed for my freezer but I'll wait if you need something."

Logan shrugs. "I'm just board." Logan sees a book laying on the table and picks it up. "Hey, are you in the middle of this?"

Ben shakes his head. "No, just finished it. Take it if you want. I found a box of books over in the corner. Mick must have forgotten he left them here."

Logan walks over and digs through the box. "Mind if I take a few?"

"Go for it."

Logan digs around and finds several with scantily dressed women and men with guns on the front and takes them with him. He heads for the door. "Thanks. It's better than staring at the walls."

After a few days the cable guy shows up and hooks up the Internet connection. Logan moves to the computer but the books keep calling him back. There like a really bad B movie. Over the next week he makes a couple of more calls on Ben next door to dig through the box of books. The second time Ben laughs and hands him the box. "Here take it with you. You're getting more out of it then I ever would."

After ten days Logan has pretty much burned his way through the box of books. He stares at the last one. Well that was some of the worst writing imaginable. He snorts. _Hell, I could have done better in my writing class in high school._ He smiles remembering how Veronica had caught him ripping off dialogue from Easy Rider to win a contest in their English class. After that he took a writing class to actually see if he could do the work. To his surprise he really enjoyed the work.

He glances at his laptop on the table and shrugs. He doesn't have anything else to do. He sits down at the desk and begins to see if he can write anything that's at least better than what he just read. He begins to let the words flow and just types whatever comes to mind looking for ideas.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef looks at Sarah and kisses her deeply. He is sitting at his desk in his study and Sarah has just come into see if he's busy. She has other ideas than Josef spending the evening working. She sits down on his lap to make her point.

He grins at her. "You are bad for business. I can't get anything done. You are too distracting." Sarah smiles at the compliment and leans into kiss him.

Mick punches up Josef's number and listens to it ring. He's about to hang up when he hears Josef. "Hello? Mick?"

"Yea, Josef are you alright?"

He leans back in his chair and looks at Sarah smiling at him. "Yes I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"I just haven't heard from you much. Wondered if everything was alright with Sarah."

Josef slides his hand up her shirt and cups her breast. "Yea, everything's good. I've just had my hands full."

Mick grins when he hears Sarah moan in the background. "I bet. Josef, it's the end of the month. We need to talk about Ben and Holden." Josef sighs and moves his hand back to the desk. He glances at Sarah who is looking at him somewhat impatiently.

"It's your call Mick. Do you still think you don't need the extra security?"

"Josef I've kept an eye out for the last couple of weeks. I've done some double checking around the area and I really do think it's time to send them back to you and let Logan go where ever he wants as long as he always keeps a phone with him."

Josef nods. "Alright. I'll make sure he has all the appropriate numbers. If he needs help he starts with you and Victoria. I've set up an extra retainer fee with Victoria to come immediately if he calls. The two of you are generally going to be closer to where he is than I will be. If he can't get either of you then he calls me. I also asked her if she had heard any rumbling in the community about Logan. She said it was pretty quiet once the shock wore off. She said she thinks everybody is actually kind of happy about the whole idea of vamps having kids."

Mick nods. "Josef that sounds good. He's going to be happy to hear things have calmed down and he can get out. You want to call him or should I just go next door?"

"I'll call him in couple minutes."

"Yea, and I'll go across the hall in a bit and tell Ben and Holden to pack up." Mick hangs up

Josef stands up in one smooth motion with Sarah in his arms.

"When it comes to Logan, I can't let you distract me. You need to give me a minute to call him."

Sarah nods and smiles at him seductively. She runs her fangs across Josef's neck and smiles when she sees his eyes flash at her with desire. "Family is the only excuse I'll take for making me wait for you."

Josef nods and can see it's going to be another night lost to his beautiful temptress.

He sets her down on the couch and pulls up Logan's number. "Logan, are you busy?"

Logan looks at the laptop in front of him and shrugs. Not so far. "No, Josef, why?"

"Nothing, I just thought you should know that Mick is pulling Ben and Holden and sending them back. As long as you have your cell phone and the extra numbers I gave you, you can take off. Mick and I have both been tracking what's been going on around you and it looks good. Take Veronica and go do something."

Logan snorts. Right. "Thanks Josef. I'll tell her whenever I see her." He says a little crankier than he intended.

Josef scowls at the dead line in his hand.

Sarah sees the serious look on Josef face. "What's the matter?"

Josef frowns. "Logan isn't happy. I can hear it in his voice."

Logan shuts the laptop and grabs the box of books he's been meaning to take back to Ben's room. He probably should do it before Ben leaves and the room is abandoned again. He thinks about Veronica and he admonishes himself for being selfish. She's pretty happy and how can he complain about that? At least she's close. At one point he didn't think she would even move to L.A. He knows that once she gets a handle on what Mick's teaching her about the office she'll have more time. He just needs to keep himself busy until then. He grabs his keys and decides to check out the neighborhood. He can stop in and see her on his way out.

Mick opens the door to go across the hall and finds Logan in the hall with a box of books in his hands. "Hey, did Josef talk to you about leaving the apartment?"

"Yea, just in time. I finished this box of books Ben found in the apartment next door." Logan has no desire to tell Mick that he's been attempting to do some writing of his own.

Mick looks down into the box and smiles. "That is some bad fiction. A guy I worked for a few years back gave them to me as payment. He swore he was going to be famous and they'd all be collector's items. I felt bad for the guy and let it go. He'd had a pretty long run of bad luck."

Logan smiles. "I read them all. It was sort of a cross between a cliché fest and light porn. Pretty funny after a while."

Mick nods. "I remember. So, what are you going to do now?"

Logan shrugs. "I thought I'd look around the neighborhood and branch out from there. I need to get to know the area. I might as well start close to home. From what little I saw when we first got here the neighborhood seems kind eclectic."

"It is. It's why I like living here. It's got a little of everything in this neighborhood. They don't even look at me twice."

Logan nods. "I'll see you later."

Mick watches as Logan ducks into his office door, to say hi to Veronica and tell her his good news on his way out.

Mick goes to tell Ben and Holden they can go back to Josef's.

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Here we go again….**


	2. Chapter 2

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.**

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Logan doesn't really know what he's looking for but he needs to find something to keep him busy until things are less hectic for Veronica. He feels restless. In retrospect being away from Neptune may not be such a bad idea. A fresh start never hurt anyone with his past mistakes. He sees a bar down on the corner but decides that's probably a bad idea, not much of a fresh start. He moves in the opposite direction to see what else he can find. He walks down the sidewalk peaking in storefronts. He likes what he sees. Shops and people line one side of the street, a park lines the other side. The shops seem to be a little of this and a little of that, a mix of old and new. He finds a café around the block and wanders in. Bookcases line the walls, filled with used and new books for sale. There is a small deli in the corner that advertises sandwiches and salads made to order. He notes that he can feel a vampire close but shrugs. _Until I see a threat, I'm not spending my life worrying about every vamp I trip over._

Logan looks around and decides he likes the feel of the place. He picks an interesting looking book off the shelf and goes over and pays for it and also order himself some coffee. He moves to a table in the back facing the rest of the room. He settles in and starts to read about the adventures of the tough Private Investigator. Logan smiles thinking of his own Private Investigator. One-way to kill some time until she gets done working. Maybe we can go to dinner tonight. Go have some fun together.

Veronica looks around the room. She has files spread all over the office. Mick has been teaching her about all his basic office systems over the last couple of weeks. He's really happy with how fast she has caught on. Truthfully it's not all that much different than the way her dad's office works, Mick's files just go back quite a bit further. He's finally decided that she can be alone answering phones and taking care of the office. It's not much different than what she did for her dad when she started out working for him. Mick just needs his appointments to be made at different times. He told her all the things he wanted to do with his business but never had the time or the extra help to accomplish. One of those things was to digitize all his files. So, in an effort to get to know everything she can about the way Mick works she agrees to take on the project. He promises to get her some large boxes she can pack the files into as she finishes and he can take them to storage. Veronica opens the first file and begins to read. She laughs for a moment and realizes she's about as happy as she's been in a long time.

Logan takes a break from his book and thinks back to when he'd sat at the laptop in the apartment and tried to come up with some ideas. He had a few but one in particular stuck in his mind and then Veronica came home. There is no way he wants her to know he's entertaining the idea of trying to write a book. He makes a decision to return to the café the next day with his laptop to continue with his idea and see if he can turn it into more. He's too uneasy about her figuring out what he's up to if he does it at home. This will be better. Then if he falls on his face no one will know.

As Logan gets up to leave he doesn't notice the man in the corner reading his newspaper. Once Logan is gone the man puts down the paper and leans back thinking of the things he's been told about Logan. The man makes a decision to come back the next day to see if Logan will return. He's been hanging out in the neighborhood bar and cafe in hopes that Logan would turn up in one of them and he could find a way to approach him. If Logan starts to frequent the small café it would be perfect for what he has in mind.

Logan returns home and finds Veronica looking over maps of L.A. She is trying to get a sense of where the cases she'd read about that day, took place.

Veronica looks up as she hears Logan come through the door. She crosses the room and gives him a hug. "Hey, what did you do today?"

Logan shrugs. "Not much. Had lunch and read a book."

Veronica looks at him wondering if he's kidding. "Really?"

He looks at her a bit annoyed. "You know, I can read."

Veronica sees the hurt in his eyes. "It's not that. I know you can read. It's not like I think your stupid. You've just that you've never spent much time with books unless they had pictures of naked women in them."

Logan looks a bit indignant. "Not always." I read a lot when I was healing up from broken bones and black eyes.

Veronica smiles and eyes him somewhat skeptical.

Logan smiles at her and shrugs. "Ok, you've got me there. I was just kind of hanging out in the neighborhood. It was a nice quiet afternoon and I got out of the apartment. I wanted to stay close for a day or so till I get more comfortable with the area." Logan doesn't tell her he plans on going back to the café the next day. He changes the subject. "What did you do today?"

"I'm digitizing Mick's files so he can put the hard copies in storage. It's a big job but it's very interesting. I'll learn a lot that way. I was just looking over maps of L.A. to see if I could kind of get a feel for where different things in his files were going on at the time. It's another way for me to learn how the city is laid out. I started with the oldest files so I know that things won't be exactly the same. He's been at this a long time and L.A. has constant growing pains."

"How about if we go out and have dinner together? Beth could probably recommend some place with good food." Logan braces himself for rejection. He can see how interested she is what she's doing.

Veronica starts to decline and as she glances at Logan and she remembers how little time she's had for him lately. She puts the map away. "That sounds like a great idea. Go talk to Beth and I'll go take a shower and get ready."

Logan takes her in his arms and kisses her. "How about we take a shower and then I go talk to Beth?"

Veronica smiles at him. "hhhhmm much better idea."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Day after day Logan goes back to the café. He sits in the corner and works on the ideas that he has running through his mind. Every day he's there, a man sits reading his paper or a book trying to find an opening to speak to Logan without him becoming suspicious. After a week the man comes in earlier than usual and finds the café very busy with Sunday joggers. He sees there is only one table left and moves to get comfortable and wait.

Logan walks into the café not long after, looking for a place to sit. The place is lousy with joggers. He can't believe Veronica is working on Sunday. She is so engulfed in Mick's files she can't wait to get back. He had somehow envisioned the two of them and a lazy Sunday morning in bed, but it was not to be. He begins to leave but he sees an empty chair close to where he normally sits. He recognizes the man at the table from seeing him in the café during the week. He wonders if he would like to share his table. He shrugs. All I can do is ask.

Gabriel puts down his paper and looks up when Logan approaches the table. He smiles inwardly. "Hello?"

"Hi, I was wondering if you mind if I sat down, at least until some of the joggers clear out?"

Gabriel shrugs. "No problem."

Logan sits and Gabriel goes back to his paper. Logan sets his laptop down and goes to get himself some coffee. Gabriel knows he has to play this very carefully. From what he has seen watching Logan in the café he's knows someone, probably Mick, has taught him to be very careful of his surroundings. Logan's usual table is in the corner facing the rest of the room with an exit close at hand.

Logan returns to the table and sits down. He opens the laptop and without a word he begins to go to work. After about an hour Logan makes disgruntled noises of frustration and sighs as he shuts the laptop. Gabriel looks up at Logan.

Logan smiles apologetically. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you."

"Not at all. I was just wondering what you are working on that's making you so frustrated. Your job?"

Logan shakes his head. "No, for some stupid reason I thought I could write a book. It was a dumb idea."

Gabriel shrugs. "I don't know why you say that. Considering all the trash I've read you couldn't do any worse than most of them."

Logan smiles. "That's what I thought but it's not that easy. I guess I need to do some research but working at home where I have an Internet connection is somewhat distracting."

Gabriel cocks his head. "This place is a WiFi hot spot so if your laptop is compatible you're in business."

Logan looks at Gabriel questioningly. "Really? They don't have any signs saying so."

Gabriel shrugs. "I've used it a couple of times to email a friend." _Finn_ "Maybe they only want regulars to know so they aren't over run with people who just want the free connection?"

Logan nods. "That must be it. Thanks." Logan goes back to his laptop.

Gabriel stays a few more minutes and gathers up his stuff and leaves the café. He needs to keep his schedule irregular so Logan never questions why he is there; he just accepts that he is.

Logan smiles when Gabriel leaves and the feelings he has when he's near a vampire leaves also. So, that's the vamp I've been sensing.

A few days later Logan enters the café and Gabriel is in his usual spot. Logan stops at his table and waits for Gabriel to look up. "I want to thank you. It's coming along slowly but it's coming along."

Gabriel smiles up at Logan. "No problem. If you don't mind, I'd like to read what you have. If you don't want to, I'll understand but, I was a college English teacher at one point in my life and I might be able to give you a little proof reading. Sometimes when you read the same passages over and over you lose track of something someone else might see."

Logan nods. "You were really an English teacher?"

Gabriel nods his head. _Two hundred years ago in England._

"I haven't written much, maybe when I get a little farther along." Logan sticks his hand out to Gabriel. "My name is Logan. What's your name?"

Gabriel hesitates for a heartbeat but Logan doesn't seem to notice. "Anders, you can call me Anders."

They shake hands. Logan smiles. "Thanks for the offer to proof read my work. Give me some time. It's starting to feel like I might be on to something and I want to have more written."

Logan sits down and goes to work at the laptop.

Gabriel glances at Logan now and then. At one point he sees Logan grin from ear to ear and bear down and he knows that look on anyone's face. Logan has it his stride and is in the groove. Gabriel hopes like hell that Logan has talent for this because from all appearances he is enjoying the hell out of it.

When Logan does finally look up its five o'clock and he has no idea how it got to be that late. He bundles up the laptop and heads home. He comes off the elevator and sees Mick in the hallway just leaving his office. Mick stops to say hi and immediately he gets a whiff of a strange vamp coming from Logan.

Mick smiles at Logan "Hey, I haven't seen you much lately. What have you been up to?"

Logan has no intention of telling anyone what he's doing so he just shrugs. "Not much just hanging out around the neighborhood. Hey, is V done for the day?" Logan tries to change the subject.

Mick nods. "Yea, she is. She's probably inside waiting for you."

Logan smiles. "Great. I'll talk to you later. I want to go see how she's doing."

Mick watches Logan turn and leave. He knows Logan well enough to know he's hiding something. Mick decides maybe a little recon is in order for tomorrow morning. Tonight though, he'd better see Josef at his office.

Mick walks through Josef's office door and first sees a very animated Josef ranting and raving on the phone at someone who has displeased him. Mick looks around the room and sees Sarah at a separate desk reading something on the computer and making notes. Mick smiles at Josef and passes him by to approach Sarah. He sits at the chair next to her desk and smiles at her. She smiles back at him. "Mick, one of my favorite people. How are you?"

"I'm good. You look very happy. He must be treating you right."

Sarah beams at Mick. "Of course he is. Now I just want to know when I get to meet your family. I understand why your wary but you ask Josef, I'm doing really well. I've been drinking from freshies and I've been around a lot of humans and I haven't hurt anyone."

Mick smiles at her "That is very good. I'll talk to Josef, but Sarah; you have to understand if Beth is a little reluctant. It's not about you so much as about Shannon. Beth had a bad experience with a fledgling when we first met and she's somewhat nervous about Shannon being around someone as young as you are. You have to understand that, if it still can't happen for a while."

Sarah looks at him and he she smiles but he can see her blinking back tears. Mick feels lousy but he doesn't want to get her hopes up. He knows Beth is wary even though Sarah is nothing like Pollack, the doctor that was accidentally turned and went feral.

Josef hangs up the phone and sniffs the air. He smells Sarah's tears and is next to her and scowling at Mick. "What are you to talking about?"

Mick shrugs. "Beth and Shannon."

Josef sighs. He can't very well scold Mick for protecting his family. He looks down at Sarah. "I'm sorry but Beth is going to take some time. You can't fault her for being protective of Josie."

Sarah looks down at her hands. "I guess. Maybe if I could spend time with Beth without Josie."

Mick smiles at her gently. "I'll talk to her. That might work." Mick looks over at Josef. "Not to change the subject but I did actually come over here for a different purpose."

Josef looks at him questioningly. "And that would be?"

"To talk about your child not mine. Your son is spending time with a strange vamp and being somewhat secretive about it."

Josef looks surprised. "Really? Any idea who?"

Mick shakes his head. "No but I'll find out tomorrow. I'm going to shadow him and see if I can find out who it might be. I just wanted to give you a heads up."

Josef nods. "Let me know if you need any back up."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Early the next morning Mick watches from the shadows across the street. He sees Logan leave the apartment building. Logan walks down the sidewalk with the laptop under his arm. Mick watches as he turns the corner and moves to keep him in sight. Mick gets to the corner just in time to see Logan disappear into the small café that Mick knows well.

Logan wants to laugh at Mick, who taught him how to watch for people following him. Mick did all the things that he taught Logan to watch for. Not only that but Logan can sense Mick all the time he is walking down the sidewalk to the café. Mick must have smelled Anders on him yesterday when they shook hands. Logan just shakes his head and wonders what Mick is going to find.

Logan crosses over and waits for Gabriel to look up. "Hey I hit my stride yesterday and managed to write quite a bit more. I was wondering if you still wanted to take a look?"

Gabriel nods. "Very much."

Logan boots up his laptop and brings up the story he's working on. He shows it to Gabriel and goes off to get himself some coffee while Gabriel reads it over. He sits down and drinks his coffee watching for any hint of what Gabriel thinks.

Mick ducks into the alley and knocks on the back door. A man who looks like your typical aging hippy opens the door. "Hey, St. John, haven't seen you in a while." Danny smiles. "Come on in. What can I do for you that requires you to knock on the backdoor?"

Danny is the only human in the neighborhood that knows that Mick is a vampire.

Mick smiles. "You've got someone out front I want to take a peek at without being spotted. Do you mind if I look at the surveillance camera?"

"No sweat. Penny has been out front taking care of business I've been out of town. I just got back this morning. So I don't have any idea what's going on out front. Come take a look. It's in the same place you installed it." Mick walks across the back room to the monitor he installed for Danny a year ago after he'd been robbed the second time. A big sign out front tells people to smile for the camera. Mick studies the picture of Logan and the man sitting across the table from him. Mick can't tell what's on the laptop but that doesn't really concern him. He stares at the man with Logan trying to figure out what looks so familiar about the man. The vamp has a neatly trimmed beard. Mick tries to see past the beard and concentrates on the face as a whole. Mick smiles as he realizes who this must be. He turns to Danny. "Can you call me if the kid leaves before the man with the beard?"

Danny shrugs. "Sure. There's not going to be trouble is there? I don't need the cops hassling me."

Mick laughs. "You really play that old hippy bullshit to the hilt."

Danny gives Mick a big grin. "You keep my secret and I keep yours. You're the only one around here who knows I used to be an investment banker. Let's keep it that way. People are a lot friendlier to Danny the burnt out hippy than they would be to Daniel the uptight asshole investment banker." Danny smiles.

Mick snickers. "Don't let Josef hear you say that."

Danny smiles fondly at the mention of Josef's name. "How's the old son of a bitch doing?" Danny also knows that Josef is a vampire.

Mick nods at the screen. "See that young guy on the screen?"

Danny nods and pays close attention to the monitor for the first time. "Hey what is Josef doing in here and how come you don't want him to know you're watching him?"

"That is the son of a bitch's son and he's doing fine."

Danny looks a little surprised. "But…I thought….I mean…."

"Yea, we all did but non the less the resemblance speaks for itself. That is Josef's son. I'm keeping an eye on him and I want to talk to the man at the table with him but not when Logan is around. Can you call me if the man is here alone?"

"You bet. I owe Josef a couple. He bailed me out when things went to hell and was nice enough to leave me liquid enough so I could buy this place."

Danny and Mick shake hands and Mick leaves the way he came in.

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Another one down…**


	3. Chapter 3

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.**

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Sarah picks up the little phone Josef gave her and calls him. She loves all the new little gadgets she's woken up to find in this new era. It's taken her a bit to get the hang of them but as long as she doesn't ask how or why they work everything is just fine.

Josef looks down and sees it's Sarah. He answers right away. "Hi there." He says softly.

"Josef I miss you. Are you coming home soon? I want to go to sleep. I'm not sure I can do it without you here."

He can hear the distress in her voice. Very gently he tells her. "Sure you can. Come on, this is what we talked about. You need to get used to being on your own a little more. I'm going run a couple of errands this morning but then I'll be home. You get in your freezer and get some sleep. When you wake up tonight, I'll be there."

He hears her sigh through the phone. "Alright. I know you're right but I just miss you. I'll see you tonight. I love you."

"I love you too. Goodnight and I'll see you soon." He disconnects and calls Roberts cell phone.

"Josef?"

"Robert, I'm going to stop and see Beth but then I'll be home. Sarah just called and she's a little nervous about my not being there. If she comes downstairs see what you can do about keeping her calm."

Robert smiles. "I will. Josef don't worry. You're doing what's best for her and that's not always easy."

Josef snorts. "Don't I know it. I don't really want to be away from her any more than she does me but it's time."

"Josef one more thing before you hang up, don't force the issue with Beth. You, more than anyone should know there is nothing quite so powerful as a woman protecting her child."

Josef shakes his head. "I know and up until now I wasn't sure of Sarah but I am now. She'll be fine. We can take this slow. Beth first, Josie later."

Robert nods. "Good plan."

Josef stands in front of the door to the apartment. He knows from what Mick said that he is going to be out trailing Logan. Josef knocks.

Beth looks up at the camera at the door. She opens it. "Josef?"

"Hi, Beth."

"Come on in. Josef, Mick's not here." Beth smiles at him warmly.

He looks at her suspiciously. "What?"

Beth shrugs but the smile is still in place. "You look good. Happiness is good for you."

Josef rolls his eyes at her and then grins back at her. "Yes it is."

Josef follows her farther into the apartment and nods. "I wanted to talk to you. I'm planning a small dinner party and wanted to ask you, if you and Mick are free Saturday night?"

Beth sighs. "Josef, I can't but Mick would probably be free. We don't have a sitter and someone has to stay with Shannon."

Josef realizes she's going to make him drag this out of her. He sighs inwardly. "Beth, what's wrong with Em? I thought she was your baby sitter."

Josef watches as Beth tries to come up with something to say without hurting his feelings. "Josef" He feels bad for making her do this but he can't let this go. He can see that this is starting to upset her. "I don't want Shannon at your house, not for a while and Emily is at your place."

"Why? Come on, you know I would never put Josie in any danger, you know that. You used to trust me. It's why I'm her godfather."

"I know Josef. It's just that…." Now he can hear the anxiety in her voice. "It's just that, you know, with Sarah, a fledgling at the house….I don't think it's exactly safe for Shannon."

"Beth," He says this as gently as he can. He knows from experience that if he backs her into a corner she will come out fighting. He's sure it would be ten times worse since it concerns the baby. "Beth, how about this. I'll have a car take Emily to your apartment to watch Josie, and then you and Mick can come to dinner. It will be the four of us, plus Logan and Veronica. Beth, Sarah really wants to meet the people in my life that are important to me."

Beth feels terrible, not wanting to hurt Josef's feelings for anything. She slowly nods. "I want to meet Sarah too. All right if Emily will come here I guess it will be all right. Josef, you understand, don't' you? I just can't risk Shannon around a fledgling."

Josef sighs. "Yes, I guess I understand but Beth you know I wouldn't put her in any danger. If I thought for one minute that Sarah was a danger to her I wouldn't even suggest it."

Beth winces. "Josef, under normal circumstances I would never question your judgment but…you love her so much and she's been asleep for so long…. I'm just afraid you're thinking is a little skewed where she's concerned."

Josef stops and bites back retort that won't accomplish anything. He suspects neither of them is being exactly rational. He smiles. "I have an idea."

Beth likes seeing the smile on his face again and hopes this is something that will work for her as well. "Do you trust Vanessa?" he asks.

Beth nods. "Yes, very much."

"Would you say that Vanessa could be an impartial judge of whether Sarah is safe to be around Josie?"

Beth thinks about Vanessa's feelings about Logan and Shannon and smiles. She knows there is no way that Vanessa would be swayed by anyone or anything where the children's safety is concerned, not even Josef or his love for Sarah. "Yes, if Vanessa said that it was safe for Shannon I would feel better, but Josef I probably still wouldn't let Em baby sit at your house, for a while longer. I would however be more inclined to go to the house with Shannon and visit."

Josef nods "It's a start." He flips out his phone and punches up Vanessa's number.

"Josef?"

"I'm having a dinner party on Saturday so a few people can meet Sarah. I was going to bring her to New York for you to meet her so you wouldn't have to come out here but I really need your presence at the party on Saturday."

Vanessa smiles into the phone. "And that would be because?"

Josef continues. "Beth and I need an impartial decision."

"I'm guessing that Beth is afraid to bring Josie to the house?"

"Yes but she believes you will be impartial and she's willing to at least have them in the same room if you say that it's safe."

Vanessa smiles and looks over at Frank who nods. "Frank and I will fly in on Friday night. How's that? That way I can get a feeling about Sarah without her feeling like she's under too much pressure."

"Thanks Vanessa." Josef hangs up and turns to Beth. "Alright. It's set. Vanessa is coming in on Friday. Once the party is over on Saturday Vanessa will call you and tell you what she thinks."

Beth nods and then smiles. "We'll see you on Saturday."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few days later at four o'clock in the afternoon, Mick hears his phone start to ring. He pops the top of his freezer and looks at the display. He flips it open. "Danny?"

"Hey Mick. The kid just left and the guy is still here. If you hurry you should be able to catch him. Penny says he sometimes sticks around for a while but usually he leaves before the kid does."

"On my way." He closes the phone and quickly gets dressed. He kisses Beth on his way out the door.

"Mick remember we have to go to dinner at Josef's tonight. Don't be late."

He nods and hits the door running. He takes an alternative route through the alley to the café so he won't run into Logan coming home.

Mick walks into the café and looks around. He crosses the room and sits down in the chair vacated by Logan, across from the vampire taping away on his own laptop. The vampire looks up. "Yes?"

"Hello Gabriel."

Gabriel smiles at Mick. "How'd you know? I'm pretty good at masking my age from someone as young as you are."

Mick smiles. "Even I can see the family resemblance."

"Are you going to tell Logan and Josef?"

"I don't know about Logan, depends on what you're up to. I have to tell Josef. If I try and give him anything but the truth, he'll know it and he'll come to see what I'm not telling him. What do you want with Logan? Do I need to call Vanessa to come have a chat with you?"

Gabriel smiles. "You don't mess around. You just pull out the big guns right off the bat."

"Not where Logan is concerned. He's family and we protect family at all costs. I know I don't have a chance against you so no, I will not hesitate to call Vanessa."

Gabriel cocks his head. "You know he's my family too. Vanessa isn't the only one with an interest in the boy."

"The question is why? The tale I heard was that you walk away from family. You and Finn both."

Gabriel holds up his hand. "Say what you want about me. I've probably got it coming, but don't malign your grandfather until you know the whole story." Mick sees a twinkle in Gabriel's eye. "Did Vanessa tell you that she and Finn were once married? Or was it twice?"

Mick registers his surprise and Gabriel laughs.

"She said he was a dear friend. She's not my grandmother is she?"

Gabriel shakes his head sadly. "No, she married Finn after Cathleen died, she was your grandmother. Vanessa always wants to fix everything, even Finn's broken heart. It lasted a long time because they truly are good friends but in the end they chose that over lovers." Gabriel holds up his hand. "However that does make her your step-grandmother and me, Josef and Logan, your something or other. Good grief this is a tangled family tree. As for your father, Finn stuck around as long as he could. You know how it works. Eventually we all have to move on. It would have been cruel and dangerous to take Jameson with him. He didn't have the power base and support that you and Josef enjoy. To say it was a different time is an understatement. Once he had to leave your father he was in pretty bad shape. Jamison was all Finn had left of Cathleen. He loved them both very much. Vanessa stepped in to keep us from losing him. She kept him together until he could do it on his own."

Mick sighs. "If what you say is true, he may want to see Shannon. Could you tell him, if he wants to meet his great granddaughter he's welcome to come by? Now let's get back to Logan. What do you want with him?"

Gabriel nods. "I'll do that. Vanessa expressed some worry that Logan doesn't have anything besides his family that means a lot to him. She's afraid when he's turned, that without something to do that he loves he'll get bored and you know what happens then."

Mick nods and sits back in the chair relaxing a bit. "Josef has pretty much told me the same thing. Maybe Logan doesn't want to be a vampire."

Gabriel smiles. "You don't really believe that."

Mick sighs. "No. I don't. Josef loves being a vampire and the joy for what he is transfers very nicely to Logan. The boy looks up to Josef a great deal. I think under the circumstances it would be odd of Logan didn't want to be a vampire. It's almost like the family business."

Gabriel laughs. "That's very good. So, if it's inevitable maybe something should be done ahead of time instead of having to worry later that he's not going to make it. I don't think that Josef and Vanessa have the emotional distance from him to try and help him. I know you're not a candidate. I can hear it in your voice. You're still dithering. What are you going to do when it comes time to turn your lady, Beth, isn't that her name?"

Mick nods. "I'll do it because I can't stand the thought of losing her but….." Mick shrugs. "You're right. I'm not the one to help Logan, but I'm not sure you are either. I'd feel better if I spoke to Vanessa about this."

Gabriel nods. "Do you think you can tell Josef, and get him to hold off until the two of you can speak to Vanessa? I'll agree to abide by whatever she says."

Mick thinks about it. "Yes. I imagine I can make a case for you but what makes you think you can get Logan to trust you and let you help him? Do you think you can get to know him well enough to find out what it is he wants to do?"

Gabriel laughs. "I'm pretty sure I already know and if it's not what he wants we'll work on something else. Mick do you really think I can't get a child like that to tell me anything I want to know?"

Mick shakes his head and scowls. "You can also probably convince me of anything you want."

Gabriel stands up. "Do you trust Vanessa?"

Mick nods. "Yes." He says simply.

Gabriel looks down at Mick. "Then call her. Let Vanessa decide. She knows me better than anyone, save Finn. Don't tell Logan anything until you've talked to her."

Mick stands. "Gabriel, I'm pretty certain that Logan won't be here tomorrow morning. He has plans tonight that will keep him busy very late. I'll stop by tomorrow morning and give you an answer."

Gabriel nods and leaves the café.

Mick doesn't bother to tell Gabriel that he will be seeing Vanessa later on.

Mick punches up Josef's number. "Hey what time are Logan and Veronica due at the house?"

"Ten o'clock, why?"

"Because you and I and Vanessa need to have a word before they get there. Beth and I'll be there at nine, does that work for you? You'll have to send Em over earlier. Do you think she'll mind?"

"None of that should be a problem. I'll take care of it."

Mick heads home to let Beth know the time frame for dinner has been moved up.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick and Beth walk through the door to Josef's study and sit across from him. "Well, who is it?"

Mick eyes Josef. "Where is Vanessa?"

Josef cocks his head "Not far. She's on her way from the other room. Sarah and Frank are with her. That's not a problem is it?"

Mick shakes his head. "I don't know why it would be."

Vanessa enters the room and Mick notices that Sarah hangs back trying to melt into the background. Josef notices it too and lets out a low growl. He smiles at her and wiggles a finger at her. Everyone is still standing. Beth and Vanessa are chatting about Shannon. Frank is talking to Mick. Sarah smiles shyly at Josef and walks over to him. Josef kisses her and whispers to her. "You've got nothing to be ashamed of or to fear."

Sarah nods as Josef tries to get a word in edge wise. Frank and Mick glance at him as the two women continue to talk. Josef lets out another growl only louder. Beth and Vanessa smile at each other and turn to Josef.

Vanessa smiles at him "Yes, Josef. You wanted something?"

He smiles at Beth. "Beth, this is Sarah, Sarah meet Beth."

Beth smiles. "It's nice to meet you. Mick tells me you remembered when we were at the brownstone in New York a few years ago."

Sarah nods. "Yes. It's much nicer to be able to talk to you this time."

Beth laughs. "I'll bet it is. I'm glad you're awake."

Now it's Mick's turn. "Not to interrupt this but we need to get this out of the way before Logan and Veronica show up.

Mick looks at Josef thoughtfully. "I want you to hear me out before you make any decisions on what to do about this."

Josef looks at him questioningly. "Maybe."

Mick knows that's as good as it gets with Josef. "It's Gabriel."

Josef shakes his head. "I'll be damned. What's the hell is that about?"

Mick glances at Vanessa "Apparently Vanessa spoke to him and told him that she was worried about Logan getting bored and self-destructing after he's turned."

Josef breaks in. "Vanessa? You just told me you haven't seen my father in a long time and now suddenly you've talked to him and he's appearing in town? What's that about?"

Vanessa holds up her hand. "Josef, he," she glances at Mick, "and Finn showed up the night of the party. He heard about Logan and wanted to make sure we didn't need backup to protect Logan. I'm not sure why he's meeting with Logan. I haven't spoken to him except to tell him the good news about Sarah. I didn't tell you I'd seen him because I didn't know if he'd be back."

Mick wonders about Finn but shoves that away. They have to concentrate on Logan. "He's decided somebody needs to work with Logan before he's turned instead of waiting for him to end up a mess later." Mick turns to Vanessa. "Vanessa he said we should talk to you about this and he would abide by whatever you say. He says you know him better than anyone but Finn and he thinks you'll vouch for him."

The group turns to Vanessa.

"Well?" Josef growls at her.

Vanessa contemplates Gabriel helping Logan and comes to a decision. "Josef let it be. Let Gabriel see what he can do. One thing about him is he's lived enough lives for several people. He's not like the rest of us. Whereas you've stayed with business in one form or another and I've pretty much stuck to the same things, Gabriel doesn't live that way. He's tried his hand at so many different things and he's accomplished himself at most of them. He doesn't do anything half way. If he can get Logan to tell him what it is he wants to do, most likely Gabriel has already done it in one form or another and could give him guidance. It's not a bad fit."

Mick breaks in. "Vanessa, he says he already has a pretty good idea of what Logan would like to do. He seemed fairly sure he could help him but I'm not sure that keeping Logan in the dark about Gabriel's identity is really a good idea. At some point Logan is going to figure it out or be told and he's going to resent the rest of us not telling him."

Josef snorts. "I'll take the hit for that one. I'll tell him I told everyone to keep it quiet. I think Gabriel is right. If Logan realizes who he's dealing with he may not be near as receptive. Sometimes strangers make the best confidants. All right that's what we'll do. I'll let Gabriel work with him. I'm not crazy about the idea." He glances at Vanessa. "But if he had your confidence I'll let it for now. Something does need to be done. But if I even think Logan is going in the wrong direction I'm pulling the plug and all bets are off. If Gabriel screws this up it won't matter one damn bit who he is."

Vanessa nods. "If you and Mick learn anything new I want you to keep me posted. Anything else?"

Mick clears his throat. "Uh, yea, how come you neglected to tell me you were married to my grandfather, possibly twice? Gabriel wasn't very clear on that."

Josef shakes his head and laughs. "I should have known."

Beth starts to laugh and she looks at Mick and Josef. "You're related by marriage." Then Beth stops and her eyes get big as she hears a low growl coming from Frank.

Vanessa turns to him. "Stop that. I'm here with you. That should be evidence enough of where my heart lies."

Frank crosses his arms and sits back in the chair. Clearly he's not happy of the reminder of Vanessa being married to Finn.

Vanessa turns to Mick "I told you we were dear friends. That's the truth. The first marriage was more about keeping Finn from doing something stupid when he was mourning your grandmother and had to leave your father behind. The second one is none of your business. When you see Gabriel again, please tell him to behave himself."

Mick laughs. "I will. You could have told me a little more about Finn. I told Gabriel to tell him if he wanted to meet Shannon he was more than welcome to come by."

Vanessa smiles. "He might. I told him how much she reminds me of Cathleen."

The group looks up as Logan and Veronica enter the room. "Hey are we late?" Logan asks looking at the group already assembled.

"Not at all." Josef says. "I was just introducing Sarah to Beth."

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Done….**


	4. Chapter 4

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.**

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The group looks up as Logan and Veronica enter the room. "Hey are we late?" Logan asks.

Mick shakes his head. "No, Emily ended up at our place early so we just came over."

Veronica and Logan greet everyone. They both stop when they get to Sarah. Sarah feels the joy wash over her from the pair. Josef introduces them. Josef and Logan roll their eyes as Sarah looks back and forth between them. She starts to sniff Logan and then realizes it's probably very rude and abruptly stops. "Sorry. That probably wasn't nice."

Logan shakes his head and laughs. "It's alright. We're both pretty use to it at this point. Believe me on the scale of one to ten that is mild compared to some of the reactions I've gotten from vampires."

Veronica looks at him wondering what he hasn't told her.

Josef knows that look and decides it's high time to move this party into another room before Veronica starts asking questions. "Come, let's go into the other room. It's far too cramped in here with all of us."

The night moves a long quickly. At one-point Mick looks up and sees Beth and Sarah are laughing at Josef who is scowling. Mick suspects Josef is making himself an easy target in hopes that Beth and Sarah will bond.

The chef comes in and announces dinner is ready for one and all. They move in and sit at the table. The humans have a wonderful dinner and the vamps sip their blood.

Once dinner is over and everyone is relaxing Logan stands up. "Veronica and I would like to tell you all something but first I'd like to welcome Sarah to the family." Logan raises his glass to her and smiles. Logan restrains the urge to make a crack about her being able to put up with Josef and simply says "Welcome Sarah." Everyone around the table picks up a glass and toasts her. Sarah smiles with happiness she never thought could compare to having Josef love her. Josef watches his son with pride.

Logan continues. "Now for the other." Veronica smiles up at him from her chair watching him closely. He tugs at her hand and she stands up next to him. He wraps his arm around her holding her close.

Josef wonders if she's finally accept his marriage proposal. Logan takes a deep breath. "Veronica and I have decided that when the time is right, in a couple of years that we would both like to be turned, together."

Vanessa smiles at them. "That's wonderful." She turns to Josef. "You are going to have to think of the proper sires for them."

Josef nods and stands up. He crosses the room and hugs Logan and then Veronica. "You let me know when you're ready. I will start making preparations now so everything is ready when the time is right."

Logan looks at Mick and Beth. Beth stands up and smiles at them. "That's wonderful."

Logan looks at Mick. "Mick?"

Mick stands up he knew this was coming he smiles as best he can and stands up. "I'm happy for you…really…." Mick shakes his hand and gives Veronica a hug.

Frank shakes Logan's hand and watches the group. He wonders who on earth Josef is going to get with the kind of resolve it's going to take to turn those two and still sire them as Vanessa did with Josef. It's a rare thing for a sire to act as parent and not end up a lover.

The night continues on until close to dawn when Mick and Beth say goodnight and head home to their baby.

Logan and Veronica decide to go up and sleep in their wing upstairs and the rest of the family settles in for the day.

On their way home Mick stops by the café where he spoke to Gabriel the evening before. He and Beth wander in and sit across from Gabriel. Gabriel looks at them. "This must be Beth. It's nice to finally meet you."

She smiles at him. "It's nice to meet you too."

Gabriel is amazed at the difference in Mick from yesterday to today. The only answer can be Beth. Gabriel senses Mick is far more relaxed and much more comfortable in his skin, more at peace with himself. This woman does truly complete him. "Before we get started talking about Logan I took the liberty of setting something up." He turns to the table behind him and Mick and Beth look at the man who turns around. He gets up and sits at the table with them.

Mick arches an eyebrow. "Finn I presume?"

He nods. "Gabriel said you would be here and we thought that this might be a good time for me to introduce myself to you, rather than just showing up at the door. If you're still willing, I would very much like to come visit some time and meet Shannon."

Before Mick can say anything, Beth lays her hand on his arm and gives him a slight nod. The look that passes between them would make anyone green with envy. They are deeply in love. That fact is very evident to both men. Finn smiles at the sight of his grandson's happiness.

Mick stands up and opens his wallet and takes out a business card. "Yea, I think that's something that we all would like. Here's my card. It's got my cell number and home number. Call, we'll figure out dinner or something."

Finn nods. "Thank you. It means a lot. Maybe you could tell me about your father. I tried for many years to find him after his foster parents took him out of Ireland. If you could tell me anything…"

Beth interrupts. "Please, you're going to make me cry." Just thought of Finn having to leave his son and the boy thinking his father deserted him after he'd already lost his mother is more sadness than Beth can manage.

Mick nods a bit choked up himself that Finn cares enough to ask after Jameson.

Finn smiles at her. "We can't have that. Let's talk about Logan. That should be interesting."

Mick clears his throat and turns to Gabriel. "We saw Vanessa last night, she gave you the go ahead, with two provisions, one from Josef and one from me. Josef says he will go along with this but if he even thinks this is going in the wrong direction he's pulling the plug. I don't know if Vanessa told you about Logan's childhood but it was not a happy one. Josef is not going to take any chance that something could throw Logan into a tailspin. The two of us will keep an eye on Logan."

Gabriel nods. "And the other?"

Mick shrugs "I need to be able to get a hold of you if I have to. I just want a reliable contact number, just in case."

"That's all?"

"Yes, that's all but I don't need to tell you that if you screw this up there will be trouble no matter who you are."

Gabriel nods. "No offense but I'd face you and Josef together before I'd want to face that sister of mine over this. I will do my very best and work on getting Logan in a place where he will be happier as a vampire."

Mick nods. "That's good because he announced at dinner last night that he and Veronica have decided that sometime in the next two years they want to be turned."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Late in the day Beth answers the phone.

"Beth, I just wanted to give you a quick call. Frank and I are on our way to the airport. We just left Josef and Sarah."

"Vanessa, so what do you think?"

"I think that taking Josie to visit at Josef's is fine. She's in no danger from Sarah. Obviously I wouldn't let her baby sit but on the other hand I wouldn't worry if you and Mick want to take her and visit. Beth, something that no one probably mentioned to you is that while she was stuck in that bed she had to learn to deal with a great deal of her vampire abilities and keep them in check or go crazy."

"I knew that she was actually awake during most of that time."

"She's a fledgling but she's not. I'm not sure if it's because she was sick for so long or because she and Josef are not blood bonded in the usual way or it's just her personality. There are too many variables in this case for me to know why, but she doesn't seem to be near as flighty or emotional as they can be in the beginning. She's still dependent on Josef but, I think that's more emotional from all she's been through, she doesn't seem as unpredictable as your average fledgling. I really think she's fine to be in the same room with Josie. At first for your own peace of mind make sure that Josef and Mick are with you. Josef moves like the wind when he needs to."

Beth smiles. "I'm glad to hear this. I really did have fun with her at dinner last night. I'd like to be her friend and relax around her."

"Take it slow. A little at a time with the men in attendance and that day will come. You'll see. Now I have to go. You take care and call me if I can help with anything else."

"I will. Thank you again Vanessa."

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few days later Logon is surprised when he realizes that nothing has come of Mick's following him to find out about the vampire that he is spending time with. He thinks about it for a while and realizes that Mick knows something about Anders or found something out that makes him sure that he's not a danger to Logan. Logan wonders what it is. He thinks over the short conversations he's had with Anders when they introduced themselves and Logan suspects that Anders isn't his real name. Logan knows that Vampires shed names at the drop of a hat. He has an idea. The next day he pockets Veronica's small digital camera. It's made to take pictures of people without them knowing it. He goes to meet Gabriel at the café and manages to take his picture just before he opens the glass door of the cafe. He hopes the vampires hearing didn't catch the soft click of the camera.

Later that night after Veronica has fallen asleep Logan finds her laptop and downloads the picture he took. Veronica has a program that allows the user to see what a person would look like with or without a beard or mustache, make their hair longer or shorter, change the skin and hair color. Logan removes the beard and stares at the man in the picture. He then removes the mustache and he lightens the hair. Logan realizes he's looking at his grandfather. He smiles and shrugs at the thought. He can't imagine why they don't just tell him but whatever it is, he's sure Mick and Josef think it's for his own good. He shakes his head and erases the picture. He puts Veronica's laptop back and returns to bed. He laughs to himself. He loves knowing this, since obviously they don't think he should. It's not often he gets the better of those two. He smiles as he drifts off to sleep.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next two months pass quickly. Sarah and Beth do become close friends. Beth still won't leave Shannon at Josef's with Emily but she visits with Shannon often and Emily comes to their apartment to baby-sit so the two can go out together. As Sarah's confidence begins to grow she and Beth have girl's nights out. Josef is very happy and thankful that the two women have become such good friends. In the beginning Beth almost had to drag Sarah to the movies but soon Josef and Mick are playing poker one night a week while the girls go out by themselves. Sarah and Beth ask Veronica along but she declines for a time until Mick comes back from poker early and finds her asleep at the desk in the office. He finds out she's been going back to the office and working while he's been off playing poker with Josef or out of town on a case.

"No more. You are done at five at the latest and that's it. No more nighttime work. Do you hear me?"

Veronica looks at him sheepishly and nods. "I was just working on the files. I wasn't doing anything I wasn't supposed to." Mick has set down strict lines she doesn't dare cross because he's so afraid for her safety. She hopes he doesn't think she just crossed one.

Mick looks at her kindly. "It's ok. I'm not mad but I don't want you burning yourself out. Go have some fun. I know you want to get to a place where you can start going out with me on cases and then handling some on your own but burning yourself out isn't going to accomplish anything. Logan must think I'm a terrible boss having you work all this time."

Veronica smiles warily. "No, he knows me. I made him promise to keep quiet. He knew you didn't know anything about me coming back here."

"Well no more. Go have fun with Logan or, go out with Beth and Sarah to the movies. Do something else."

Veronica nods. "They did ask me a couple of times."

Mick sees Josef a couple of days later and relates his conversation with Veronica. "You should call Logan and ask him to play poker with us."

Josef squints at Mick. "I could, but we play for blood vials. I mean, what use are they to him?"

Mick laughs. "We used to play for money. Do you think the others would mind going back to that?"

Josef shakes his head. "Probably not, the blood was my idea."

Mick snorts. "Yea, because you have all the money you'll ever need. Let's go back to money. Maybe I'll ask Finn as well."

Logan folds his hand and looks around the table at the men playing cards. Five vampires ranging in age from 90 with Mick, to who knows how old with Finn. Logan has a nice buzz going from Josef's scotch. He hasn't had much luck tonight with the cards but he knows he will remember this time in his life forever.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Veronica and Mick get done going over the messages and appointments that she' set up for him for the day. He smiles at her. "You've been doing a great job. I'm glad this has worked out so well for both of us." Veronica has taken so much of the mundane work off his hands that he's getting more actual work done when he is on a case and he's getting to spend more time with Beth and Shannon.

Veronica nods. "Do you think I can start going out on cases with you?"

Mick nods. "I think pretty soon you can start going out on stake outs with me. That usually is a quiet way to start and they are all over the place in different settings. A good way for you to get a handle on L.A. fist hand. How's that?"

Veronica smiles at him. "That would be great. I can't wait to tell Logan."

Mick and Veronica turn as they hear the door open as Devlin Hobbs enter. He's Mick's first appointment for the evening. Mick turns back to Veronica. "You're done for the day. Go ahead and go home and tell Logan. I'll take things from here."

Veronica nods and gathers up her stuff. She smiles at Devlin. "Hi, Mr. Hobbs."

"Please Veronica I've asked you over and over to call me Devlin."

She smiles and leaves the men to their meeting.

Mick looks down at the file and sighs. He looks across his desk and Devlin; he's a bail bondsman of some repute. "Please St. John, please go find this guy or I'm going to lose a bundle."

"Why did you bond this guy out? You know better than this. He's got a sheet as long as my arm and this would be his third felony and it's for shooting a cop no less. The odds of him sticking around to take a chance on a jury are damn slim. Hell, you've been in this business long enough that you of all people should know better."

Devlin nods his head. "Yea but my stupid son didn't. I brought the kid in and I'm trying to teach him the business. I go to lunch for a half hour and I come back and he's waving this in my face telling me what a great bond he had. The lunk head didn't even check on the property for the bond to make sure the title is clear which it's not. Come on Mick, I need this guy brought back in."

Mick looks down at the file again. "I know the sheriff that this guy shot. He's Veronica's dad."

Hobbs looks at Mick somewhat aghast. "I had no idea. Look Mick, another reason for you to go get him. Make sure he doesn't shoot the sheriff again to keep him from testifying against him."

Mick looks down at the file again. Billy Wayne Hawkins is thirty-two and from the looks of it should never have made it that long. Between the drug and gun running someone should have put a bullet in him by now. This is the man who a year ago had shot Veronica's father and then been caught after robbing a bank in L.A. the next day. Now somehow he was out on bail and had skipped. "What I want to know is how a guy who shoots a sheriff and robs a bank gets bale granted at all?"

Devlin shakes his head. "Some judge said the cop in L.A. that busted him screwed up the arrest based on the search and they had to let him make bale until they could come up with more proof besides the evidence they found in his car. They didn't catch him actually robbing the bank or shooting the sheriff."

"Alright, Devlin I'll see what I can do but for the sheriff and Veronica. Count yourself lucky if I find him."

Devlin nods and leaves quickly before Mick changes his mind.

Mick dials Keith's number in Neptune to let him know that Billy was out on bail in case the courts hadn't thought to make that call.

Keith answers. "Hey Mick. How are you?"

"Keith, I'm good."

Keith hears something in Mick's voice he doesn't like. "Veronica is alright, isn't she?"

Damn. The last thing Mick wants to do is scare Keith into thinking something has happened to his daughter. "Yea, Keith she's great. Look, I just wanted to give you a heads up in case the D.A.s office in L.A. has missed the boat on this one. The guy who shot you, Hawkins, is out on bail and he's skipped. The bondsman was just in here begging me to find him so he won't lose the bond that his idiot son posted."

Keith is very quiet for a moment. "Mick, I appreciate the call. I'll keep my eyes open. Are you going to work it from your end?"

"Yea, I'll follow up and see what I can get from his cellmates or anyone else who might be of some use. Keith he may think if he takes you out so you can't testify that he's going to be better off. Please be careful."

"Yea, that thought crossed my mind as well. I watch for him. You call me if you get any leads. Hey Mick, maybe you could try and keep this from Veronica at least until one of us gets a lead on him. No use having her worry."

"Will do. Talk to you later."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Billy Wayne Hawkins sits in the big recliner and watches the TV on the wall and laughs at his brilliant idea. When he needed a place to lay low he was going to go and hide out in the area around Neptune. He has a friend with a hunting shack up in the woods he was going to use. He decided that he needed some ready cash and supplies though so under cover of darkness he cased a few places in the 09ers part of town and found a house that he thought was empty. He held his breath waiting for an alarm when he broke the bathroom window. He waited for an hour in the surrounding bushes but no cops showed up so he boosted himself through the window and here he is. He prowled around in the dark and realized that the house hadn't had anyone living in it in quite some time. He doesn't know if the occupants are in Europe or Hawaii or where but they never showed up that night or the next and he is making himself at home. If they do show up he'll worry about it, then. For now, he is drinking their beer and eating the canned food in the pantry. All he has to do is make sure the house continues to look empty and that won't be too hard. Compared to lockup this place is a palace and he has no intention of screwing it up.

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Here we go….**


	5. Chapter 5

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.**

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

From the shadows of the buildings Veronica silently trails Logan down the sidewalk. Logan smiles to himself. She should know better than to think she can follow him any better than Mick could. He can't believe she's forgotten how much time she and Mick spent drumming in to him how to know when someone was trailing him. He shrugs and keeps going.

Veronica has finally taken a breather from her own interests with Mick's P.I. business. She looks around after two months and realizes that Logan is busy with something and she doesn't know what it is. Veronica questioned him the night before and Logan was evasive and that is never a good sign. So here she is trailing him down the street trying to find out what he is up to. She's not sure if what she's doing this morning is fueled by curiosity, guilt, fear or all three but she tells herself it's 'for his own good' that she should know what he's doing. He could be getting in over his head. Veronica watches him enter the café. He sits at a table with a man she doesn't know. The man pulls a stack of papers out of a briefcase. They talk and keep looking at a pile of papers on the desk and motioning to Logan's laptop. Veronica slips away trying to decide what to do next. She searched his laptop the night before but he had encrypted a chunk of his files and she couldn't crack it without being caught. It would take too long to decode it. Veronica decides it's time to bring Josef into this. She turns and heads for his office.

Logan looks down at the manuscript, a dozen chapters and most all of the rest of the book sketched out. He has a clear sense of where he wants the book to go and even a few good ideas for a sequel. He feels a sense of pride he never thought he would have. With Gabriel's help he should be finished by Christmas. Logan smiles realizing this is the thing he's needed for a very long time. It's giving him an outlet for so much pent up emotion he's never known what to do with.

Gabriel smiles. "You're not going to need me to edit much more of this. You've learned a lot since we first started. You're editing yourself pretty well as you go now."

Logan frowns. "But you'll be around until it's done, right? I want you to keep looking it over. I'd hate to get to the end and have flaw that has to be gone back over because I didn't see it."

Gabriel nods. "Yes, don't worry about it. I wouldn't miss reading the ending." Gabriel smiles. "Now get back to work while I look over what you wrote yesterday."

Logan nods and begins taping away at the laptops keys.

Rose buzzes Josef, to alert him that the front desk just called and Veronica is on her way up. Josef wonders what this is about. Veronica approaches Rose's desk and Rose just smiles and points to Josef's door. Veronica peaks in the door and Josef motions for her to enter. "Come in." She sits across from him and he can see the scowl on her face. "All right, what did I do wrong now?"

Veronica looks at him surprised. "What makes you think you did anything wrong?"

"I can't imagine what else would put that look on your face."

Veronica smiles at him ruefully. "Sorry. I just need you to check on something for me. Logan is acting weird and I'm worried about him."

Josef leans forward. "Weird how?" _Gabriel better not be screwing this up._

"Busy, and secretive. He won't tell me what he's doing during the day. He just says it's something he's working on. He saves all his files to his laptop and the files are encrypted."

Josef laughs. "Your mad because he knows you so well."

Veronica sighs. "Maybe, but Josef I'm worried. I er…followed him this morning. He went to this café not far from the apartment and he met some guy who I've never seen before and they kept looking over whatever is on the laptop and a stack of papers. What if it's something illegal or he's being conned?"

Josef smiles at her. "It's not illegal and he's not being conned. Listen, does he seem unhappy or out of control?"

Veronica shakes her head. "No…he actually seems pretty happy but…."

"Please, V, let it go. I can promise you nothing bad is going to happen and this is a good thing."

"Josef….what are they doing?"

"First off I don't know but the person who he's with is helping him get a little direction and find something he wants to do in life besides make you and me happy. It's time, don't you think?"

Veronica knows Josef is right. "I guess. I just hate not knowing what is going on. Do you know this guy?"

Josef shakes his head. "Never met him but people I trust with my life have vouched for him. How's that?"

Veronica scowls at him again. "I guess it will have to do. You're not going to tell me anything else are you?"

"No. Just let it be."

Veronica gets up and turns to the door. "Alright. Mick and I are going to Neptune to meet my dad today, so they can catch a bail jumper. I'll think about this while we're gone but Josef this is really bugging me."

"V, Logan will tell us when he's ready. Let's trust him."

Reluctantly she agrees. "I hope you're right about this."

 _Me too._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth opens the door and smiles at Finn. Over the last two months Finn has become a regular visitor to the family. Shannon adores him and he's become very close to all of them. Mick and Finn have long talks about Jameson. Talking to Finn about his father has given both men a common touch stone and brought another person into Mick's life that makes him feel like this is the life he was meant to live.

Shannon runs across the room to grampa, who oddly enough doesn't look much older than her daddy. Finn bends down as Shannon races to him squealing with delight as he swings her in the air. Finn moves in to the apartment and holds the giggling little girl up in the air making silly noises at her.

He holds her and turns to Beth and kisses her cheek. "Hey, where is Mick?"

Beth wrinkles her nose. "He and Veronica went down to Neptune to chase a bale jumper. Veronica's dad is the Sheriff down there and he's going to meet them. This is the same drug dealer that shot Keith, Veronica's father a year ago. They want him locked up again."

Finn shakes he head. "Humans should let vampires dispense their justice. We're better at it."

Beth snorts remembering Emma and Jackson. "Well, your solutions are much more final I'll say that for you. Veronica isn't going with them to pick the guy up. She just went a long so she could visit with her dad when they are done. Have you spoken to Gabriel lately? How is he doing with Logan?"

Finn and Beth move to the living room as they talk. Beth starts to sit down and stops. "Can I get you a drink? We have A positive of course but I think there is also some AB negative if you want." For the first time since he's been turned, Mick is keeping fresh blood in the fridge. No more morgue blood. Another sign that Mick is accepting who he is more than he ever has before. "Or I could get you a scotch?"

Finn shakes his head. "No, I'm fine for now. Maybe later. Let's see what did Gabriel say about Logan? Oh, yea, he's really pleased at the progress Logan is making. He says he's coming a long quite nicely."

"But at what? Has he told you yet?"

Finn laughs. "No, he didn't tell me. I think he suspects you could worm it out of me. He says we'll all just have to wait."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick pulls up at the Sheriff's apartment and he and Veronica get out as the Sheriff comes down the stairs to meet them. He hugs his daughter. "You look good, very happy. I like that."

She smiles back at him. "You don't look so bad yourself."

He turns to Mick and shakes his hand. "Mick, nice to see you."

"Keith, you too."

Mick tries to hand her his keys. "Take my car and we'll meet you at your house when we're done."

Veronica scowls at them and Mick narrows his eyes at her. "You know the only reason I brought you down here was so that you could visit with your dad."

Keith shakes his head. "There is no way you go anywhere near this one. He's already shot me. I'm not taking any chances that he'll get a shot at you."

Mick hands her his keys. "Now take the keys and go back to your place."

Keith nods. "We'll meet you soon and you and I will take some time to catch up."

Veronica continues to scowl at them but takes the keys and gets in the Mick's rental and takes off. She's tempted to follow them but knows they would spot her. She'd beat them there but Mick has been oh so careful to make she sure she has no idea where his information is going to lead them. _When did all the men in my life get so sneaky?_

Mick watches Veronica drive away and he gets out the map he has in his pocket. He lays it out on the hood of the sheriff's patrol car. They go over the information Mick has on Hawkins's possible location, so they can decide the best course of action to take him into custody. Mick talked to several of Billy's cellmates and they all gave him the same story. Hawkins told them he was going to hide out in the woods south of town. Hawkins said he had a friend with a cabin that was warm and cozy and he could lay low there. When Mick told Keith he had a lead and he was coming down they agreed to meet and take Hawkins in together. Keith is glad to have Mick along on this one.

Since they're going to have to walk in the last half mile they decide it's okay to take the sheriff's patrol car. Mick stops before they get going. "I have to make a quick call."

Mick calls Beth. "Hey, you."

"Hey, I just wanted to call you and tell you I love you."

"I love you too. Are you going after this guy right now?"

"Yea. After that Keith and Veronica are going to take some time to visit and then we'll be home."

"Sounds good. Finn's here with us."

"Say hi and kiss Shannon for me."

"I will. Mick, be careful. Just because you're a vamp doesn't mean you indestructible."

Mick glances at Keith and sees the smile on his face. "I know. I'll call you when we're done. Beth, I have to go. I'll see you later. Love you."

"Love you too." And the connection is broken.

Keith and Mick climb in the car and head off to the place where they believe Hawkins is hiding out. When they get to the trailhead they park the car and both men prepare to walk in the last half mile.

Veronica parks her car in the driveway and gets out of her father's car. She is deep in thought still wondering what Logan is up to. She hopes Josef knows what he's doing. She unlocks the front door and as she shuts the door behind her a hand reaches out and Hawkins grabs her from behind. "One sound. One single sound and your dead."

With the cabin in sight Mick and Keith approach it carefully. They try to keep low in the dim light of the thick forest. When they get in Mick's range he stands very still and concentrates on the area trying to see if he can sense anyone in the cabin or anywhere else close. He looks at Keith and shakes his head. Mick heads for the cabin and kicks the front door in. They look around and it takes little time to see that no one has been in the place for a long time.

"Damn. I thought we had a shot at him." Keith exclaims in frustration.

Mick nods. "I know those guys weren't lying. So either Hawkins got a better offer or somebody finally took care of him." The two men hike back to the car and drive off to meet Veronica.

Mick turns to Keith. "At least it's not going to be a complete loss. You and Veronica can do some catching up."

Keith nods. "Yea, I miss her but I almost feel better about her being in L.A. She's such a magnet for trouble here in Neptune."

Mick flips open his phone as he drives and punches up Beth's cell. He hears it go to her voice mail. He looks at his watch and sees it's not that late. He wonders where she's gone. "Hey, we didn't get the bad guy. Keith and I are on our way to Veronica's. We'll be back in L.A. later tonight. Take care. I love you."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hawkins curses at her and throws Veronica at the couch. "Now you just sit tight and maybe nobody gets hurt. I have to figure out what to do with you." He stares at her. "Who are you? Do you live here?" He sees her purse on the floor where it fell. Veronica dives for it but he catches her in midair and throws her back on the couch with ease. He snatches her purse and leers at her. "Your kind of little thing aren't you?" He sees the anger in her eyes but not an ounce of fear. He chuckles. "I bet you're a firecracker in the sack." He opens her purse and smiles as he takes out her 9mm Beretta. "Now what do we have here?" Veronica watches him silently put her gun in the waistband of his jeans.He opens her wallet and pulls out the 30 bucks she carries for emergencies and pockets it without a second thought. He continues to look through her wallet and stares at her driver's license and begins to laugh. "All be damned. Looks like my luck really is starting to change." He smiles at her. "Veronica Mars…. let me guess…Keith Mars is your dad." He just laughs. "Looks like I'm going to get a second shot at that lawman yet."

Veronica doesn't know what she's going to do but she has to find a way to warn Mick and her father. She can't have them walking into Billy Wayne Hawkins. She knows exactly who Hawkins is. She investigated him extensively when her dad was in the hospital after Hawkins shot him. She can't believe her dad and Mick are out in the woods looking for this creep and he's right here hanging out in her and Logan's house. She has to find a way to warn her dad. Veronica knows she has one ace in the hole that Hawkins doesn't know about and that's Mick. If she can give Mick even a second of warning, he will be in here and Hawkins won't know what hit him. Veronica moves over to the couch and sits watching Hawkins, waiting for an opening.

It's dark when the Sheriff and Mick drive up and park next to the Sheriff's car in the driveway. Veronica knows with a certainty that she can't let her dad walk into this house. Hawkins will shoot him on sight. Hawkins points her gun at her as he hears the car pull up. He peaks through the blinds and softly laughs. He easily grabs Veronica and covers her mouth with his hand and pushes the gun barrel into her back. "Don't make a sound. We want to make sure your daddy comes to visit."

Veronica waits until hears the door open and she bites down on Hawkins hand like a bull terrier. She quickly releases his hand as he jerks it from her mouth. She lets out a scream to warn her dad and Mick. When Hawkins yanks his hand back the gun goes off shooting Veronica in the back. She falls to the floor as Mick comes flying into the room. Panicked Hawkins fires wildly and manages to empty Veronica's gun. Mick takes four bullets across his chest. The pain and shock of the bullets immediately bring the predator out for vengeance. Mick grabs Hawkins by the throat, holding him up off the ground with one hand, Hawkins's feet dangling in the air.

Mick sees Veronica's gun on the floor where Hawkins dropped it. "Shit." He snarls at Hawkins. _Silver loads._ _No wonder it hurts so damn bad._

The Sheriff is kneeling next to Veronica trying to assess her injuries. Mick can hear her heart starting to falter he knows she's not going to last longer than a few short minutes. Another snarl from Mick "I don't have time to deal with you asshole." Hawkins eyes go dead flat as he realizes that he's about to die. Mick snaps Hawkins's neck and drops him to the floor. He turns quickly to Veronica, pushing the predator down as he moves to see if he can do anything to help Veronica.

Veronica feels the pain of the bullet into her back. All she can think is that her dad and Logan are going to be so pissed at her for getting shot. She starts to feel cold and knows she's going to lose consciousness. She fights it, trying to stay awake.

Keith looks down at his daughter as her eyes flutter. He flips his phone open. "Hey, I'm calling the ambulance. You'll be fine." Mick looks at Keith and shakes his head. He knows she's never going to make it to a hospital. She's starting to go into shock.

Veronica starts to moan. She knows this is bad. She fights the blackness that threatens to overtake her. She tries to turn her head a bit to look at Mick. "Mick?"

"I'm here. I'm with you."

"It's bad….real bad isn't it?" Veronica manages to get out through the pain

Mick just nods not trusting his voice.

"Mick….please….you know…what I want…turn me."

Mick closes his eyes. He knows she's right but…at what cost? He feels his own gunshot wounds and knows he needs to get some blood or he's going to be in trouble pretty quickly himself. The silver is permeating his system.

Keith begins again to use his phone to call for help. "The EMTs can treat her as soon as they get here."

"She won't make it. Her heart is starting to flutter already. She hasn't got that much time."

Keith looks at Mick with tears in his eyes and clenches them tight. "You can save her. You can keep her from dying. You heard her; you know it's what she wants. Please." Keith is not above begging for his daughter's life. "Mick, please."

Mick knows Keith is right and he knows he can't imagine telling Logan that he let her bleed out on the floor in front of him, never mind Josef's rage at doing so. _It's what she wants…..you know it's what she wants._ The words echo in his head.

Mick looks from father to daughter. "It will never be the same, the two of you have to understand that."

Veronica manages to nod. Keith squeezes his eyes tight. "I don't care. Just keep her from dying."

Mick takes a deep breath and takes out his knife. As he waits for Veronica to reach the edge of death he pushes up his sleeve. Keith starts to speak and Mick holds up his hand, every sense he has trained on the woman dying in front of him. "Hold tight." When she is so close to the precipice of death that one moment more and she will tip over, he acts. Mick slices his arm open. The blood starts to flow from his arm and he trickles it into her mouth. "Come on V. Come on girl."

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **One more down….**


	6. Chapter 6

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

For a few precious heartbeats Veronica makes no movement and then suddenly she grips Mick's arm like a vice, pulling it to her mouth. She begins to drink deeply pulling at the open wound drinking in the elixir that will keep her with them. Keith watches in stunned silence as he sees Veronica drink from Mick's arm, little rivulets of blood finding their way out around her fangs and dripping to the floor.

Mick looks at Keith. "Keith, look at me." Keith doesn't move. He just continues to watch Veronica. _My god she has fangs_. He watches her eyes. They are squeezed tight until the euphoria hits her and then they open, to a beautiful shade of pure silver. Keith watches his daughter's transformation with awe. "KEITH damn it listen to me."

Keith looks at Mick, who despite his best efforts has gone through his own transformation. Between the feelings running through him from the woman drinking from his arm and the pain from the wounds the predator is out in the open, barely contained. For a second Keith blanches as he looks into Mick's crystal blue eyes. Mick tries desperately to continue as if it is all normal and ordinary, trying to interject calm upon the last human in the room. Despite the woman drinking from his arm he concentrates on her father. "This is important. Turning her may not be enough. The bullets in that gun were silver loads. She's going to need more blood from me than I can manage at the moment. I need you to call Weevil and then that bullet has to come out of her and I can't do it. You'll have to take it out."

Keith stomach lurches as he squeezes his eyes shut. He opens them and nods once to Mick. "How?"

Mick watches the Sheriff, hoping he can hold it together. He knows Keith is running on pure guts and fear for his daughter life. "First I need you to call Weevil. Tell him to get his ass over here. Tell him what happened. Be sure and tell him that she's been turned but I'm having trouble healing and I'm losing blood to her and the gunshot wounds. Tell him to get some blood here or neither of us is going to make it."

Mick watches as the sheriff urgently talks into his phone. Keith flips the phone closed and turns back to Mick. "Weevil is on his way."

"Now go into the bathroom and under the sink you'll find a surgical kit." After Josef had been shot at the beach house and Logan had to take the bullets out with needle nose pliers they had put surgical kits in all the places where they might be needed. "You're going to have to use the forceps and scalpel and get that bullet out of her."

Keith comes running back opening the kit as he moves. He sees that Mick has repositioned the two of them so that Mick is laying on his back and Veronica is lying next to him on her stomach still drinking from his arm. Keith can see that Mick is fighting to stay conscience.

Keith traces Veronica's skin where the barley closed wound still shows. He can't feel the bump of the bullet under her skin. His stomach turns again as he realizes the damn thing is in pretty deep. He takes the scalpel and gently slices the wound open with an X across the top. He wants to scream when he hears Veronica moan from the pain.

Mick watches and rolls over on his side facing Veronica. He whispers to her and gently rubs her neck with his other hand, trying to keep her calm and centered on feeding. He doesn't want her to go after her dad.

Keith can't believe he's doing this to his only child. He takes the probe and gently pushes it in the wound to see if he can feel for the bullet. He wipes the sweat from his brow when with relief he finds it buried in her back. He takes the forceps and gently grasps the bullet and pulls it out. He hears her continue to whimper.

Mick's eyelids begin to flutter. He sees the bullet in Keith's hand. Mick nods. "You have to leave." He manages to growl out. "You can't be anywhere near her. She isn't going to know who you are for a while and right now your nothing but a food source. I may not be able to stay conscience to keep her from hurting you." _And if Weevil doesn't show up quick, and instinct kicks in you could start looking pretty good to me as well._

Keith shakes his head. "I can't leave. My god you're both still bleeding all over the place. You still have bullets in you. Maybe bandages or applied pressure, there has to be something more I can do."

Mick feels for him but it's too dangerous for him to stay any longer. "At least go outside and wait for Weevil. He can take care of us and let you know what's going on. Please, I don't want to have to tell her that she hurt you." _And I don't want to hurt you._

Keith nods fighting back every instinct he has as a parent to help his child. "Alright but I'll be right out front."

Mick can hear the anguish in Keith's voice. Mick watches Veronica continue to drink from his arm. She needs far more blood than she normally would for a normal turning. Her body is trying to heal the damage the bullet did to her insides but he's sure the silver is keeping that from happening. He hopes like hell the silver loads he took aren't tainting his blood and killing her with ever pull on his arm. _Weevil better get here quick or neither of us will make it._ He says a silent prayer that he will see Beth and Shannon again. _Beth baby, I love you._

Mick curls his body around his little fledgling. Veronica stops for a minute and snuggles up close to him. She sniffs his arm and sinks her newly sprouted fangs in his arm once again, taking long slow pulls of his blood. Mick can feel the wet stickiness where their blood continues to pool under them.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Weevil loads his cooler as fast as he can. It's a good thing that the sheriff caught him at home. He won't have to make a second stop. Weevil gets in the car he keeps just for emergencies. He throws the cooler in the front seat, gets in and turns the key. The car roars to life and he pulls out. He punches up Josef's number as the car speeds away from the curb

"Weevil?" As Josef answers he knows this is going to be bad news.

"Veronica's been shot." He barks out as he drives.

Josef closes his eyes he's been holding his breath hoping this would never happen, or if it did it would be after she was turned. "How bad is she and is anyone with her?"

"Her dad called me. I'm on my way. Josef, it sounds bad. Mick turned her but he's been shot as well. The sheriff says for some reason Mick's not healing and Mick's afraid neither of them is going to make it. Depending on the damage she's going to need more of his blood and you and I know she could die if she doesn't get it and if he's bleeding out we could lose them both."

Josef listens intently "I don't have enough blood to keep them both going. I can give Mick what I have and he can keep feeding her but they have both got to be where they can get attention right away."

"What about the Sheriff? You think he would be willing to donate to keep them both going?"

Weevil takes a deep breath. "Josef, what are the odds that Mick will take the chance that he won't kill the sheriff even to save both their lives? You know him better than I do. If Mick is in dire straits, you think he'll risk it?"

Josef lets out a growl of frustration. "Not very damn likely. Weevil, get to them and do what you can. I'll see what I can do at my end and I'll call you back."

Josef gets an idea. He has a heliport with a chopper on top of his office building. He punches up Jake's number. "Jake, how fast can you be in the air?"

Jake sits up in his chair when he hears the urgency in Josef's voice. "Five minutes or less."

"Good. Do you know the area around Neptune, down south of us?"

"Sure."

"Is there some place you could do a medivac and stay under the radar?"

Jake thinks for a minute. "There is an abandoned air strip east of town. The drug runners used to use it. I could drop in there. Josef what's going on?"

"Mick is in trouble and so is my son's girlfriend they have both been shot. I need you to fly in there and pick them up and fly them back to the house. Go warm up the bird and I'll have one of my people empty the blood out of my reserves in the office so you can get some blood into Mick as soon as you get there."

"What about the girl?"

Josef sighs. "The only blood she's going to be taking in for a while is Mick's."

"Shit." Jake exclaims.

"Exactly. Get going." Josef hangs up and calls Evan, one of his more trusted employees. "Josef?"

"Evan, do exactly as I say. Grab a cooler and fill it with as many bottles out of my office fridge, as you can fit inside. Take it to Jake on the roof. This is an emergency I need you to move as fast as you can."

Josef realizes he's talking to a dead phone. Even moves fast. He does as Josef instructed and runs across the roof and loads the blood onto the chopper. He moves back and gives Jake the thumbs up, and Jake is in the air.

Weevil sees the Sheriff in the driveway. He grabs the cooler and as he heads for the door he stops. "Sheriff you really have to stay out here. I'll let you know how they are as soon as I can."

Keith slides down the side of the car and slumps to the ground.

Weevil enters the living room and sees them curled up together on the floor. He also sees the forceps and the bloody bullet lying on the floor not far from them. It only takes him a second to realize the bullet is silver. _Shit._ Veronica has Mick's wrist in her mouth but she doesn't seem to be feeding at the moment. She seems to be sleeping. Weevil gets down next to Mick and runs a bottle of blood under his nose. Mick sniffs and opens his mouth. Slowly Weevil pours it into him. Mick drinks it up. Weevil pours all he can into Mick and flips his phone open and calls Josef again.

"It's worse than I thought. It looks like the Sheriff took a silver bullet out of Veronica. If that's the case, then whatever bullets Mick took are probably silver also. No wonder neither of them is healing. Josef there is blood all over the floor. It must be slowing or they would both be gone by now. I've just poured as much blood as I have into Mick. Veronica is sleeping. Hopefully she won't need to feed again for a bit so the blood he took on can help him and not just go directly to her. Josef this isn't near enough blood and with his blood being contaminated with the silver this could all be for nothing. Do you have any ideas?"

"Yea, take them to the old airfield east of town. You know the one?"

"Yea, Fitzpatrick's used to use it for running drugs."

"That's the one. Jake is going to be there in just a few minutes. Load them on the chopper and he'll fly them back here and we'll stick and IV in Mick's arm. Then we can get the damn silver out and get both of them in a freezer."

"On my way Josef. When you get them situated you better figure out what the hell you are going to tell Beth and Logan, because this just got very sticky." Weevil hangs up and begins to gently disentangle Veronica from Mick's body.

"You have no idea." Josef says as he stares at the phone.

Weevil throws Mick over his shoulder, Mick's blood coating both of them. He stops dead. _Shit the Sheriff_ He lays Mick back down and looks down at himself. Great he looks like he's been working in a slaughterhouse, it can't be helped. Weevil moves through the front door and approaches the sheriff. "I need you gone and I mean now. Josef has arranged to have them medevacked out of here on a chopper out at the old airfield east of town, but Veronica can't wake up and see you. I have got to get them to that chopper. If he dies she may not be able to make it without him. You have to go now, please sheriff. I'll take care of them and Josef will call you as soon as he can."

Wordlessly with tears in his eyes Keith nods and moves to the car. Keith stops and turns back to Weevil. "You follow me. We'll do it with lights running." Weevil starts to interrupt but Keith stops him. "Weevil if you get stopped looking like that with those two in the back you'll never get to the airfield and we will lose them."

What Weevil doesn't say is _No, Sheriff what you're going to lose is a deputy because I am not letting Veronica and Josef's best friend bleed out on the road because a human cop. These two are part of the tribe and we take care of our own._ Weevil looks down at himself. "All right but instead of doing with your lights running let's just go really fast. If anybody tries to stop us, you can radio them and call them off. The less attention anyone pays to us the better."

Keith nods. "I'll wait in my car."

Weevil stops him again. "Sheriff, remember keep this quiet. No one can know about any of this." Keith nods and continues to his car.

Weevil moves as fast as he can, loading first Mick and then Veronica into the car. As he drives away he sees Mick, in the backseat, through the rearview mirror start to come around. Weevil sees the panic in Mick's eyes until he finds Veronica on the seat next to him. Weevil shakes his head. _Man I do not envy Josef having to tell Beth and Logan about this_. Mick drapes his arm around her and passes out again.

Weevil follows the sheriff's car through the night and sighs when they get to the airfield without interference.

Jake lands the chopper in the dark field just as Weevil and a sheriff's car drives up. He wonders what that's about but doesn't question it as Weevil gets out of the car not distracted by the cop. Jake hops down and unlatches the rear seats and folds them back out of the way. Weevil comes to the chopper with Mick slung over his shoulder. He lays Mick on the back floor of the chopper. Quickly he returns with Veronica in his arms. He feels her shaking. He tries to put Veronica in the front seat but she continues to shake in her sleep. Weevil lays her down next to Mick and puts Mick's arm around her. She sniffs the air and gently brings her fangs to bear on his wrist again and she instantly calms.

"You got any blood for him?" Weevil yells over the noise of the chopper blades.

Jake nods and points to the cooler. Weevil jumps in and points up. Jake nods and lifts the bird off the ground. Weevil uncorks the bottle of blood and smells it. He smiles. _This is some of Josef's prime stuff._ Weevil rolls Mick over a little and tries to pour some blood into him but he's not swallowing. Weevil shakes his head. _Bad sign_

Jake lifts off and hauls them back to Josef in L.A.

Keith watches the chopper lift off and collapses beside his car. He puts his head on his knees and prays for the life of his little girl.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef yells for Robert. "Get a stretcher or something we can use as one and an IV line with a bottle of good fresh blood hooked to it. Mick and Veronica have both been shot." Josef goes on to quickly explain the situation. He sees Sarah standing in the doorway. "Sarah, it's bad. I'm going to put them in our freezer. If you need anything out of here, you might want to get it now and move it across the hall.

"Of course." Sarah nods and leaves the room to move some of her clothes and some of his.

Josef hears the chopper and heads for the helipad behind the stables. He finds Robert and some of Dave's men waiting with the required equipment. Weevil drops out of the chopper as soon as it touches down. He pulls Veronica out of Mick's grasp and hands her to Josef. Josef cradles her in his arms and Weevil pulls Mick out of the chopper and throws him over his shoulder. The two men get out from under the rotating blades and Weevil lays Mick on the makeshift litter. Robert expertly slips an IV line in Mick's arm. The two security men pick up the stretcher and they move to Josef's bedroom. Josef follows close behind with Veronica in his arms. Josef lays Veronica down on the floor and strips her out of her clothing. He turns her over to inspect her wound. He shakes his head. The silver in Mick's blood is keeping both their bodies from healing properly. He gently lays Veronica in the freezer.

Robert strips Mick out his clothes as Josef moves to look Mick's wounds over. "These bullets have to come out now. He won't heal with them in there and the silver could kill both of them." Robert moves quickly and returns with a surgical kit matching the one that Keith used on Veronica. Robert rips it open and Josef watches as Robert removes the bullets from Mick's chest. They quickly move him in to the freezer next to Veronica. Instinctively Mick puts a protective arm across Veronica's body with one arm and a wrist in front of her mouth with the other. Josef looks down and sighs. He watches as the woman that his son loves more than anything in the world snuggles up to Josef's best friend. He shakes his head to clear it. Time enough later to worry about how this is going to affect everyone. He's not going to worry about anything at the moment but hoping the two of them make it through the night.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth waves at Finn as he leaves the apartment. She wonders why Mick hasn't called yet. She looks down at the phone and frowns. The battery is dead. She'd better buy a new one this one seems to have stopped holding a charge. She grabs her backup and swaps the batteries. She sees she has a voice mail and punches in her codes. She hears Mick's voice telling her they will be back later on tonight. Beth looks at her watch and sees it's very late. She wonders where they could be and pulls up Mick's cell number. She has a sinking feeling in her stomach as the phone continues to ring but no one answers. She tries to ignore it telling herself that she's just worrying for nothing.

Josef hears Mick's phone ringing from the pile of clothes they just took off of him. He picks it up and looks at the display and then looks up at Robert. "It's Beth."

Robert shakes his head. "You can let her sit there worrying all night."

"I know but I need to call Finn. I'm going to need him to stay with her. I'm probably going to have enough trouble dealing with Logan."

Josef goes through the contact numbers in Mick's phone. He finds Finn's number and punches it up.

"Mick?"

"No, Finn, it's Josef. Where are you?"

"I just left Mick and Beth's."

 _Good._ "Don't go far. I've got a lot of bad news and I need your help."

Josef explains what's happened. "Josef, I think you should let me call Gabriel. He might be able to talk some sense into Logan if you can't reach him. You think he's going to want to be turned right away?"

Josef closes his eyes. "I don't know but Sarah still needs me so I'm not an option. Hopefully I won't have to have that conversation at least for a few days." He looks up in time to see Sarah frown at him. He motions for her to come to him.

Sarah moves to him and he pulls her into his lap. He circles his arm around her waist. He wants her to know that he loves her and doesn't want her to feel bad because he is taking care of her and can't be Logan's sire. "What the hell, call Gabriel. At this point, I'll take all the help I can get. Meet me out front of Beth and Mick's apartment building in twenty minutes." Josef closes the phone and looks up at Robert. "You know what I have to do next."

Robert nods.

"I want you in this room with them at all times. Robert I know it's a lot to ask but I need someone to care for them who's done this before and that I can trust."

"Of course."

Sarah goes over to the freezer and looks down at the pair. She knows she can't go with Josef but she wants to help. She looks up at Josef. "Can I help Robert?"

"Of course. I need the two of you to keep blood flowing into him and make sure that you call me if there are any changes at all."

Both nod and Josef grabs his keys. He kisses Sarah and heads for the Ferrari. He gets to the bottom of the stairs and sees Jake and Weevil sitting on the deck. "Jake can you take Weevil back to Neptune and then you can go back to the office."

Jake nods. "I hope Mick is ok. He's a good guy."

"He is." Josef agrees

"Weevil, I'll call the Sheriff and tell him what we've done and try and ease his mind."

Weevil nods. "Josef, if you need anything let me know. Veronica has always been a good friend."

"I know. If I think of anything I'll let you know."

Josef gets in the car and pulls away from the house dreading the next few hours.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **One more done…..**


	7. Chapter 7

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Josef punches up Keith's number.

"Josef? How is she? How is Mick? Are they going to be alright?"

"Keith, here's what we have done. Mick and Veronica are resting comfortably. She'll be fine as long as he makes it. We've got an IV line running into him and he should be healing. The problem is it's going to take far longer because she needs to drink from him so that she can heal and that slows his body's ability to mend considerably. We got the silver bullets out of him but I don't know what his contaminated blood did to either of them. I'm hoping they are both going to be all right but I honestly can't promise you anything. Can you tell me what the hell happened?"

Keith is so quiet Josef begins to think he's lost the signal. "Keith?"

"They…both of them…..tried to protect me." Josef hears him take a ragged breath through the phone. "For some reason Hawkins was at the house with Veronica when we pulled up. She screamed when we came in the house. I'm sure she was trying to warn us. Veronica is smart. She knew Hawkins would have shot me on sight. When she screamed he shot her in the back." Josef hears the catch in Keith's voice. Keith can hardly speak but manages to find the words. "Mick and I heard the shot and Mick moved fast to try and get to Hawkins but he had his gun pointed at Veronica and she was laying between Mick and Hawkins. Mick distracted Hawkins from Veronica and Hawkins began to shoot wildly. Mick used his body to block Hawkins gun, so he couldn't hit either one of us. I started to call an ambulance for Veronica but Mick said she'd never make it." The vision of his daughter bleeding to death swims before his eyes and he feels like he's going to pass out. Josef hears the gut wrenching pain in Keith's voice as he continues. "She stayed conscience long enough to ask Mick to turn her. I knew she was right and it was what she wanted. I begged Mick to turn her and he did. Now it sounds like it might cost him his life as well."

"Keith what happened to Hawkins? Did Mick take care of him or is he out there running around?" _Telling everyone what we are?_

Keith pictures Hawkins being held up by his throat and lets out a strangled laugh. "He won't ever be a problem for anyone again. Mick took care of him."

Josef doesn't like the sound of the sheriff's voice. "Keith where are you?"

"At home." _Climbing the walls._

Quietly Josef tells Keith "That's good. Call in sick for a day or two."

Keith sighs. "I already did. I don't think I could face anyone until I know she's out of danger."

"Keith, I'll call you every day and let you know how they are doing. Right now I'm headed to see Beth and Logan and tell them what's happened."

"I'll let you go then. Josef please if there is any change….."

"I'll call you right away if there is a change, alright?" Josef quietly assures him.

"Thanks Josef and don't worry I won't say a word to anyone." The line goes dead.

Josef punches up Weevil's number. "Where are you?"

"In the air on my way back to Neptune. What do you need?"

"Listen to me. I need you to go see Keith. I just talked to him and he's at home. He doesn't sound good. I don't think he's going to say anything to anyone but he needs someone close who understands what is going on. Stay with him until I can tell him Veronica is going to make it. See if you can walk him through basic vamp and answer any questions he has."

"No problem Josef. As soon as we get back I'll clean up and go see one of my girls, and then I'll go over there. He'll probably be grateful to have someone he can talk to about this without worrying about letting something slip. You want me to give him the unvarnished truth about vamps?"

"Yes if you think he can take it. Just be careful you don't freak him out. His daughter just joined the tribe at his request. Don't make him regret it."

"No problem. I think I know the sheriff well enough to know what's going on with him."

Josef hangs up and dials Angelica.

"Mr. Kostan?" She wonders what's happened.

"You did a good job when the kids house was trashed."

"Thank you. What can I do for you?" She knows this isn't a social call.

"I need you to go to my son's place and do another clean up. I understand there is a dead human at the house. Burn his body. Remove all traces of him from that house. I don't care if you have to scrub every square inch of the place. I don't want anyone asking any questions about Veronica or Mick or finding any sign that Hawkins was anywhere near that house. She's just joined the tribe and she doesn't need to be answering any questions from the cops. I'm not worried about the ones in Neptune. For obvious reasons that is covered but I think Mick said the warrant on this guy was out of L.A. I don't want anyone curious and finding anything at the house that could give them a reason to go after Mick, Veronica or my son."

"Of course Mr. Kostan, but…."

"Spit it out. I'm always up for smart suggestions and I don't have a lot of time here." Josef snaps.

"I was just going to say that if the cops are looking for this guy it might be better to let them find him in a week or two. I can mess with any forensic evidence that Mick or the girl left behind so they won't trace it back to them and you know cops, it's better if we give them a conclusion they can live with. If the guy's as bad as it sounds probably nobody's going to look too much farther. Not only that, but the jurisdictional differences between here and L.A. should slow them down."

Josef nods to himself. It's a good idea. This is why he employees people who specialize in this crap. Unfortunately, one of them is laying in a freezer with an IV in his arm. "I don't know what condition Mick left the body in but if you can make it work, do it."

"Will do. Let me know if there is anything else you need."

"Send me the bill. Call me when it's done or if there are any complications, and if you pull this off there will be a nice bonus with the payment." Josef breaks the connection as he guides the Ferrari to a stop at the curb in front of Mick's apartment building. Two men step out of the shadows. Josef recognizes Finn right away. He sees the other man, the man he knows as Mr. Alder and stops dead in his tracks. "You son of a bitch."

Gabriel shakes his head. "We can go round and round about Mr. Alder later." Gabriel says in response to Josef's anger.

Josef clamps his jaw and nods. "Come with me."

Josef knocks on Veronica and Logan's apartment first. Logan comes to the door. He takes one look at the three vampires and the bottom of his stomach drops out. "Come on we need to talk to you and Beth." Josef puts his arm around Logan's shoulders and steers him across the hall.

Logan nods and moves like a sleepwalker. Finn knocks on the door. Beth looks up at the camera and sees the group at the door and swings it open. "Josef?"

Beth looks from Finn to Josef. "Where is he?"

Josef moves into the apartment. He takes Beth's hand and guides her and Logan to the couch. He motions to Logan to sit next to Beth. He sits across from them and leans forward. "Listen carefully both of you. Right now they are both still with us. They are in my freezer at the house. Mick has an IV line running into him. He's getting constant blood. Veronica is right next to him."

"Josef, I don't understand. Why isn't Veronica in a hospital? Why is she at your place in….a…freezer?"

Josef nods as the truth of it dawns on Logan and Beth. "Yes, she was dying and she asked him to turn her and he did."

Beth looks up when she hears Shannon start to cry. She starts to get up but Finn gently lays a hand on her arm. "I'll see to her."

Beth nods and takes a deep breath. "Josef, tell us from the beginning, all of it."

Josef relates what's happened and what he's found out over the last few hours. Beth stands up and she wobbles a bit but refuses help. She turns to Josef. "I want to see him. I want to see him right now. I'll get my coat. Finn will watch Shannon."

Josef hears the note of panic in her voice and looks at Logan. "Can you and Gabriel go next door to your place? Beth and I need to have a word and then I'll be over."

Logan nods and Gabriel follows Logan next door. Once they are gone Josef turns back to Beth. "You can't see him tonight…I'm not sure when you can see him."

Beth pleads with him "Josef, he won't hurt me, you know that."

Josef nods, but hesitates. _This is the sticky part._ "I know that and if it were just Mick we would already be on our way, but it isn't just Mick and I can't take the chance of Veronica hurting you. I will not have Mick wake up and have to tell him that his fledgling hurt the woman he wants to spend forever with or that I had to harm Veronica to protect you. Beth, fledglings are unpredictable at best and this one has been hurt badly and not turned under the best of conditions. I don't think she's going to wake up any time soon but it's a chance with your safety I'm not willing to take."

"How long Josef? How long have we lost him for? How long before he can leave his fledgling? How long before he can come home to us?" Beth spits the words at him.

Josef hears the anger and pain in her voice. "Shit Beth. Would you have rather he let her bleed to death on the floor?"

Beth shakes her head the tears flowing freely now. "Of course not, by why him? Why is it always Mick that has to do the right thing? Why does he always have to be the good guy?"

Josef stands and takes her into his arms. She struggles for a moment and then puts her head on his shoulder not able to stop the flood of fear for Mick. "You wouldn't have fallen in love with him, hell you wouldn't even be here if he wasn't."

He looks down at her and as much as it pains him he decides she might as well get the worst of it all at once. "Beth, I don't know how long it's going to take for him to be able to be away from her. It depends on the fledgling. I won't lie to you. Once he wakes up and is feeling better then Mick can assess the situation and decide if it's safe for you to see him or if he can leave Veronica. He's the only one that can make that call. At this point I'm still just worried about him living through the next few days."

Beth breaks away from him, fear and shock written across her face. "You said he was getting blood. He should be healing. He should be fine by morning. What else is the matter? What haven't you told me?"

Josef hears the edge of panic again. "He is getting blood but the problem is that she needs blood, his blood. His body isn't getting to use the blood for healing as fast as it normally would. A lot of it is going to Veronica and she's going to need a lot more. In addition, the silver in both their systems has aggravated the situation. The bullet she took did a lot of internal damage and so his blood needs to heal her body and his." Josef shakes his head. "He's going to be down for a while and so is she."

Beth sees her daughter in Finn's arms. "Damn it Josef, he can't die. He just can't leave us. He's supposed to live forever. Can't you give her someone else's blood? You give her blood. Why does it have to be Mick's?"

Josef looks at Finn for help and then back at Beth. "It just has to be." Josef sighs. Trying to explain this to Beth when she's this upset isn't going to help much. "Once Mick opened that vein for her she became his fledgling and that's the only blood she can have under these circumstances. I just can't risk switching her to anyone else's blood since she's still healing it could kill her, and you know as well as I do that Mick wouldn't want me to risk it." Josef looks at her helplessly not knowing what he can say to make it better.

Finn sets Shannon down in her playpen and moves to Beth. She collapses into Finn's arms.

Josef looks at Finn. "I'll be next door. Could you explain the specifics to her when she's ready to hear them?"

Finn nods and looks over Beth's head at Josef. "I'll take care of it. Josef, I know that you and Gabriel have things to air out but let him help with Logan. He really is a good guy."

Josef nods and leaves the apartment to go across the hall and deal with his son.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef walks through the door to Logan's apartment. He sees Logan sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Josef glances at Gabriel who looks up as Josef walks in. Josef sits across from Logan and puts his hand on his son's shoulder and squeezes it. Trying to reassure Logan. "Hey, look at me."

Logan looks up and Josef can see the pain in his eyes. "Veronica's chances are pretty good. ….if….if Mick makes it. If he doesn't…we'll try and feed her my blood or someone else's, but I don't want to try it unless there is no alternative. It doesn't take much to turn someone. Just a little tiny bit of blood can do the trick but the silver and the bullets and all the damage, just makes it tricky. When a fledgling is first turned, they need their sire's blood for a while. It's not an absolute but it can get risky under these circumstances."

Logan snorts and shakes his head sadly. "I thought I had a handle on all of this because I lived around you and Mick. I guess there is a lot more to it than I thought."

Josef watches Logan. "If I explain more of it to you it might make it easier for you to understand what we're doing and why. Do you want to hear more?"

Logan nods.

Gabriel watches them closely. Glad they seem to be on the same wavelength for the moment.

"For the most part a turning works like this. A vampire drains someone until they are on the edge of death and then feed them their own blood." Josef smiles wearily at Logan. "Sounds simple, doesn't it? The actual turning doesn't take much blood from the vampire involved, just a bit. After that, physically the new fledgling needs the sire's blood to help replace their own that's been drained and to repair any damage from losing all that blood. It's not a gentle process. If they don't get enough blood from the sire, if they are abandoned or the sire is killed, they will most likely become feral when the bond is broken and the bloodlust can't be assuaged. The sire's blood is more than just what brings them back it's part of a bonding process that if broken at the wrong time will either kill the fledgling or insure they need to be killed."

Josef looks off into the distance. Logan's wonders what Josef is remembering as he continues. "We are predators and like any predator when we are young and unmanageable we need someone to keep us in check or we revel in the bloodlust lost to it never to return."

Josef seems to shake himself and return to the present. "In Veronica's case the added damage means that there is far more for Mick's blood to do in order to heal her. Add in the silver contamination and you have a fledgling and sire both too close to death to be separated. Mick would most likely bounce back pretty quickly if we removed Veronica and let him recover on his own but even at this point the bond is there and as I said, it would probably kill her." Josef looks a bit worried. "With Mick…especially with Mick, the loss of a fledgling would be devastating. He would go into the darkness and never come out. Even with Beth to try and pull him out I'm not sure it's a loss he could manage. For Mick it would be the same reaction as if something happened to Beth or Shannon. He needs her as much as she needs him. It's just the way it is. They have to heal together. If we lose either of them most likely we will lose them both."

Logan looks at his hands and then glances at Josef. "How long do you think it will be before we know something more about their chances?"

Josef gets up and moves around the room. Logan recognizes Josef's worry. He only paces when he's pissed or worried. "I'm hoping we will see some improvement by morning but I don't know. I don't think they will be up and moving by any means but I'm hoping we should at least be able to sense some improvement. As far as getting healthy, it's just going to take a while." Josef knows none of this sounds encouraging but it can't be helped.

Logan leans back on the couch and stares at the ceiling.

Josef watches him "Logan can I get you anything?"

Logan nods. "I'll take a beer."

Josef glances at Gabriel and the two men move towards the kitchen. Josef opens the fridge and grabs a beer out he turns to Gabriel. "Can I trust you to stay with him? I have to watch over Mick and Veronica. Robert can't do it twenty-four hours a day." Josef is more than a little uneasy about this but doesn't see as he has many choices.

Gabriel nods. "Yes, I'll watch over him. Tomorrow, I'll try and keep him busy enough that he won't have time to think so much about it. He is something else. Josef, did you know, he knew all along who I was?"

Logan smiles at his son's ingenuity. "How did he figure it out?"

Gabriel relays what Logan had done to reveal his identity. "He told me all this while we were waiting for you."

Josef nods. "Watch him carefully and try and keep away from anything more potent then beer. Stress like this is his trigger for self-destruction. It's been a long time since he went down that path and he may have finally conquered it, but be watchful."

Gabriel nods. "He's told me some of it. I'll keep him in check."

Josef moves back towards the living room. "Alright then. I'm going to go give him this and then say good-bye. I really need to get back."

Josef walks back to the couch and hands Logan the beer. "I can't see her can I? That's what Beth wanted isn't it, to see Mick, I mean."

Josef shakes his head. "It's far too risky at this point. There is no way to know what we are dealing with until she and Mick are awake. I'm sorry but not yet. Now I have to go home and watch over them so that Robert can get to his freezer. Gabriel is going to stay here with you. As soon as I sense any change I'll call you."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef climbs in the Ferrari and pulls away from the curb. He pulls out his phone and calls home. Sarah answers on the first ring. "Josef?"

"Yes, kitten it's me."

"You sound tired. Are you coming home? You need to feed and get some freezer time and I miss you."

He hears a touch of anxiety in her voice. "Yes, on my way now. Sarah, how are Mick and Veronica doing?"

"I'm not sure. Robert is here, you want to talk to him?"

"Yes." Josef hears her passing the phone to Robert.

"Josef, not much change. It's just too soon."

"I figured as much. I just had to ask." He says wearily.

"How did things go with Beth and Logan?"

"Not good. I can't see where there is a damn thing I can do for either of them at this point. Robert think about how we can get everyone in one place and keep the humans safe until Veronica can be trusted around them without supervision."

Robert snorts. "You don't ask for much. I'll give it some thought. Beth and Logan aren't alone, are they?"

"No Finn is with Beth and Gabriel is with Logan. I'm coming home."

"Good. We'll see you when you get here."

Josef hears Robert hand the phone back to Sarah. "Hey there. I miss you." He can tell she's trying to hide any nervousness she's feeling. He knows it's been a long anxious night for her too.

"Sarah I can't wait to see you too. I have to go. I love you and I'm on my way, alright?"

"I love you too Josef. I'll be waiting for you."

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Done…..**


	8. Chapter 8

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.**

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef quietly sits up in his freezer opening the lid as he does. He gets up and pads across the bedroom. Quietly he grabs some clothes and heads for the bathroom trying to let Sarah sleep. She was not happy about sleeping in a separate freezer last night. When he's done getting dressed he moves across the hall and checks in on Mick and Veronica. Robert took most of the day to watch them and make sure Mick got a continuous supply of blood. Josef looks at Robert "How are they tonight?"

Robert shrugs. "Not any worse, maybe a little better."

Josef nods. "I'd like to take a look at them without pulling them out of the freezer and see how much more healing has taken place since last night. It might give us an idea of how fast things are progressing." Josef glances at Robert and remembers he hasn't been to his freezer in well over twenty-four hours. "I will take care of it. You go feed and get some sleep. I'll watch them and make sure they get what they need. You've been up twice as long as I was."

Robert snorts. "Yea but you had to do the tough part. You had to deal with the humans."

Josef sighs thinking about Beth and Logan and trying to figure out some way that everyone can be together.

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Finn hears Shannon moving around in her crib. He quickly moves up the stairs trying to get to her before she wakes her mother.

Beth hears Shannon moving around and knows it's just going to be a moment before she starts trying to climb out of the crib and calling for her bottle. Suddenly the previous night comes flooding back and Beth feels like the wind has been knocked out of her again. _Mick, oh Mick. Please be all right_. Beth wants to stay in bed and cry herself right back to sleep. She knows she doesn't want this pain she's feeling to touch her daughter. Bracing herself she starts to get up and she sees Finn standing in the doorway with Shannon in his arms. "Go back to sleep. You can't face this if you're worn out. I'll take care of Shannon. We'll eat and watch videos."

Groggily Beth nods. Finn sets a glass of water on the bedside table, followed by a bottle of aspirin. "You're probably dehydrated from last night. Drink some water. If you've got a headache take a couple of these but get some more sleep."

Beth does as he instruct and rolls over and goes back to sleep. She concentrates on Mick and tries to steer her dreams to happiness.

Across the hall Logan sits in the same place on the couch where he was when Josef left him the night before. He fell asleep once only to be woken up by a nightmare of Veronica dying. _One of those is enough_. _No more sleep for a while_.

Gabriel watches him, waiting for him to crash so he can get him into bed. It's been over twenty-four hours since Logan has gotten any real sleep. Gabriel doesn't think it will be much longer before Logan will sleep out of exhaustion. Hopefully he will sleep deep enough he won't have any more nightmares.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef senses Sarah as she comes through the door. He doesn't have to look up at her to know that she's in a foul mood. "Go feed. You'll feel better."

She narrows her eyes at him and starts to disagree with him. Before she can open her mouth he points to the door "Go on." She realizes it would be useless to argue. She turns and goes down stairs to see the girls.

Josef opens the lid of the freezer and looks down at Mick and Veronica. He gently rolls Veronica farther to her side and looks over the wound in her back. The gunshot wound seems to have closed up nicely. No evidence exists that it was even there, at least on the outside. Now hopefully the internal bleeding has stopped and damaged organs are healing.

Josef looks over the bullet wounds across Mick's chest. They are closed up but still visible. If healing isn't complete on the outside, then it's probably not on the inside. At least there is improvement from last night.

Josef closes the freezer and reaches for his phone. He needs to let everyone know there is progress.

This time Josef looks up as Sarah enters the room. He stands and motions for her to come to him. "Feel better?"

She shrugs. "A little."

He cups her cheek and kisses her gently at first and then deepens the kiss as he feels her body respond and mold to his. He breaks the kiss and smiles down at her. "I love you."

He watches as her mood start to shift. "I love you too. I'm sorry. I'm not sure why I'm in such a foul mood this evening."

Josef nods. "It's all right. There is just a lot of turmoil going on around here and between worrying about Mick and Veronica and sleeping alone, you're just a little anxious. Hopefully things will settle down now that we can't do anything but watch and wait."

Sarah nods. "Are you still worried they aren't going to make it?"

He slowly shakes his head. "No they are getting better. Even vampires have to make it through that first rocky twenty-four-hour period. The thing is, eventually they will both get to the tipping point where there they are both healthier than they are hurt and at that point regeneration will pick up quickly. With vampires it's an accumulative effect. The more we heal, the faster we heal. As I said, now it's just a matter of watching and waiting."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After the third day Beth has had enough waiting.

Finn looks up when he hears her coming down the stairs. "Ah, you look much better today."

Beth smiles kindly at him. "Thank you for taking such good care of Shannon while I've had my little pity party. It's over now."

Finn nods and watches her closely. He has gotten to know Beth pretty well over the last few months and he knows she's made a decision of some sort. "It has been a pleasure. We've had a great time. We've watched some of the most interesting videos over and over and over."

Beth laughs. "Yes, when she finds something she likes, she likes it a lot." Beth switches gears and becomes serious. "Can you watch Shannon one more time for me? I need to go out and pick up a few things."

Finn senses immediately she is lying to him and almost smiles. Surely she knows he can tell she's lying. He guesses she's betting he won't call her on it. He sighs and shakes his head knowing this is something that she has to do. "No problem. I'm not going anywhere until Mick gets home anyway. You take your time."

Beth smiles and gives him a quick hug and kisses her daughter. "Mommy will be home soon."

Beth grabs her purse and the keys to her car and out the door she goes. She knows that Finn will call Josef. He may not stop her but he will most certainly give Josef a heads up. When Beth gets to the end of the hall she finds Logan by the elevator waiting for her. He smiles at her. "Thanks for the call. This may not work but it's worth a shot."

"What did you tell Gabriel?" Beth asks him wondering if he fooled the old vamp at all.

Logan snorts. "Does it matter? He knew I was lying. I'm sure Finn did when you told him you were going out. You know they are both going to call Josef?"

Beth shrugs "Yes, but I can't just sit here anymore. I have to be able to see him with my own eyes. Josef has got to understand that."

Logan nods. "I know the feeling."

Finn picks up the phone almost as soon as Beth is out the door and punches up Josef's number.

"Finn?"

"Good news and bad news Josef."

Josef closes his eyes. He has a hunch he knows what is coming. "Let me guess, the good news is Beth is feeling better and the bad news is she's headed my way."

"You're very good. You should do a mind reading act."

"Hold on, I've got another call." Josef punches the call waiting to hear Gabriel tell him he's fairly certain Logan is on his way to see him. Josef thanks him for the heads up and goes back to Finn. "No. I've been expecting this. That was Gabriel on the other line. Apparently she's not alone. It sounds like Logan is with her, strength in numbers and all that. It took a bit longer than I thought it would, but I knew if he was down long enough, it was coming at some point. It's just who she is. Actually since neither Mick or Veronica has so much as moved or made a sound it's probably all right for them to come and at least see with their own eyes."

Beth pulls her car up in front of Josef's mansion and she and Logan get out. Josef walks out of the shadows and stands in front of the door.

Logan leans against the car. He's decided Josef is going to have to move him bodily if he wants him gone. Not that he doesn't think Josef can, he just suspects Josef would be reluctant.

Beth faces Josef. "We want to see them."

To Beth's astonishment Josef nods. She was sure she was going to have a fight on her hands. "Listen to me first. Neither of them has moved since we put them in the freezer." He turns to Logan. "I need you to remember a few things. Veronica is a vampire now. She doesn't breathe, she is in a freezer cold as ice. Remember that and don't let it frighten you. There aren't any of the usual human signs of life. She's undead. You're just going to have to take my word that I can sense that they are still in there fighting to come back."

Beth and Logan move toward Josef. He stops them. "Hold on. A few conditions first. One of you at a time and I stay in the room. You cannot under any circumstances open the freezer. First off it would be bad for them and secondly it would be one sure way to get killed if one of them wakes and is completely disoriented. I'm sorry. It's the best I can do."

Logan knows that tone. Its Josef's 'my way or the highway' tone. Logan nods. "Fine. I just want to see her." Beth nods her head in acceptance.

The three walk into the house and up the stairs. They stop outside of Josef and Sarah's room. "Which one of you goes first?"

Beth hugs Logan. "You go first."

He smiles gratefully at her. "Thanks."

Josef and Logan move towards the bedroom door. The three turn as Sarah comes down the hall. Sarah smiles softly at Beth. "Come on. I've got chef brewing you a cup of coffee. You can drink it while you wait."

Beth nods and glances at Josef. "One of you will come get me?"

"Of course." Josef replies.

Josef and Logan watch as Beth follows Sarah down the hall to the stairs. Josef turns to Logan. "One more thing you should be prepared for….."

Logan waits wondering what has suddenly made Josef hesitant. "Ah hell, never mind. You'll just have to see for yourself."

Logan follows Josef into the darkened room; Josef turns a small light on. "I'm reluctant to turn much light on. It will bother Veronica a great deal when she wakes. I don't want it any harder for her to acclimate than need be."

Logan nods not quite sure what Josef is going on about. "It's fine. It should be enough for me to be able to see her." Logan walks over to the freezer and sees Veronica lying on her side. Mick is curled up close behind her with his left arm over the top of her, across her waist and his right arm under her but turned up so his wrist is in her mouth. Logan sits heavily on the chair next to the freezer. He sits for a moment thinking about seeing them like this.

Josef watches Logan trying to see where his mind and emotions are going to lead him. "You know; he's keeping her alive just by feeding her? He's her life line and a freezer is no place for clothing."

Logan nods at the sense of it and stands back up. He looks down at the woman he loves more than anything in his life and touches the glass, wishing like hell he could speak to her or touch her.

Josef sees that Logan is going to be all right and goes over and picks up the book he was reading and goes back to it while Logan watches Veronica.

Suddenly Logan looks up at Josef. "I thought you said they hadn't moved since you put them in the freezer?"

Josef nods. "Yes, that's right." Josef starts to get up thinking there has been some change.

"Well, I can see her jaws moving."

Josef nods and sits back down. He's forgotten that to him that isn't really moving but to Logan it must be a wonderful thing to see. "I'm sorry. Yes, she's feeding. It's instinct. I meant conscious movement." Josef can feel Logan relax at seeing Veronica move even if it's just to feed.

Logan sits for a while watching her feed through the glass of the freezer. He looks up at Josef. "I'm ready to go. Beth can come up now. That was what I needed."

Josef nods. He can feel the sense of relief coming from Logan. _He just needed something to hang on to._

"I'll go down and tell Beth she can come up."

Logan walks into the kitchen and smiles softly at Beth. "Your turn." He tells her as he sits down at the table with Sarah.

Beth sees his relaxed manor and hopes she feels the same after seeing Mick.

Beth hesitates before she enters the room. She's no fool she's been around vamps for several years now, hell she's lived with one for the last few years. She knows what to expect of a sleeping vamp. She also suspects that Josef was being literal when he said that Veronica was curled up in the freezer next to Mick. Beth sighs and decides it's time to grow up. Her lover, the man she wants to spend forever with is hurt and he's a vampire. Certain things are just the way they are with vamps and she knew that when she fell in love with one. Beth takes a deep breath and opens the door.

Josef looks up. He knew of course she was out there bracing herself for whatever she has to face.

Beth walks straight to the freezer and looks down at Mick and Veronica still in the same position as Logan found them. Beth smiles. It's pretty much what she expected. She touches the glass and wishes Mick would turn and smile that dopey lopsided grin of his at her. She sees Veronica's jaws move as she feeds and the IV line going into Mick's left arm. Beth looks up at Josef. "Why can't you put a IV in both arms?"

Josef smiles. "I don't know if his body could process the blood that fast. Believe me I was half tempted to do just that."

Josef walks over and stands next to Beth and they watch the sleeping pair in the freezer. Josef puts his arm across Beth's shoulders. "He's strong and stubborn he's not going anywhere. We're seeing progress where the healing is concerned. Every single minute that they both survive is just that much more reason to think they will. I think if we were going to lose them it would have been in that first twenty-four hours."

Beth nods and opens her purse. She takes out a picture of Mick, herself and Shannon taken not long ago. "When he wakes up he might like to have this. I know he can't come home for a while but this might help him feel better."

Josef nods and takes the picture. He puts it on the table under the lamp. "I'll make sure he gets it."

Beth nods and moves to the door. "Thank you Josef. I really needed this."

Josef nods as he watches the door close behind her.

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Another done.**


	9. Chapter 9

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Josef sits at the desk trying to concentrate on the paperwork before him while he waits for the bag of blood suspended above the freezer to need changing. Mick and Veronica started out going through a bag of blood every half hour. A week later it has become much less. Veronica lets out a moan. Josef's head snaps up at the beautiful sound. It's the first noise either of them has made since they were put into the freezer. Quickly he moves to check and see if she is waking up. She lets out another moan and Josef watches as Mick wraps his arm around her and pulls her in close to his body. Josef shakes his head. They are both still unconscious but instinct is telling Mick his fledgling needs him. Josef senses it won't be much longer before they are both awake. Josef wonders idly how strong the pull is going to be with these two.

Josef goes back to his desk and looks up as Robert enters the room. Robert moves over and looks at the pair in the freezer. "Any change?"

"Veronica is making noise and Mick is unconsciously trying to comfort her. Both are good signs but other than that not much else."

Robert watches Veronica very carefully and looks up at Josef. "Except that Veronica is looking up at me. Josef, she is conscience."

Josef moves to the freezer and looks down at her. They both see panic start to engulf her as she comes fully awake. Josef supposes she has no memory of what happened and without her sire's calming influence she's being thrown into a panic. They watch as her eyes start to turn silver and her fangs start to show. Josef looks at Robert. "Let's get her out of there and see what we can do to keep her calm."

Robert flips the lid on the freezer up and Josef reaches in for Veronica. She growls at him and backs up close to Mick. "Veronica…its Josef. Come on, concentrate…."

He tries to reach for her but she continues to back up baring fangs at him. He lets out a low growl hoping to cower her into submission but no such luck. Josef reaches out to Mick to see if he can sense anything from him. He can sense that Mick is starting to have an intense reaction to Veronica's fear even in his unconscious state. Mick is fighting to come to her aid. Josef looks at Robert. "Back up and be careful Mick is going to come shooting out of there any minute now. This could get ugly if he's half in and half out of reality. He may not know who anyone is, any better than she does. I'm going to see just how far I can push them."

Robert shakes his head and steps back. Josef really growls at Veronica letting her feel a very tiny bit of his contained power. He sees her start to whimper in fear. Josef joins Robert on the other side of the room. Josef and Robert watch as Mick comes flying out of the freezer at an alarming speed. He lands facing both of them, the IV ripped from his arm, he's ready to do battle. Mick stands facing them, fully vamped out, looking for the danger to Veronica. Josef grins at him as Mick finally registers that there is no threat to either of them. His knees start to buckle as the adrenalin fades. Robert and Josef each grab one of his arms. They move him carefully to the edge of the bed and help him sit down before he hits the floor. Veronica peaks out of the freezer at them. Mick waves them both back and holds open his arms and she comes out of the freezer and Josef can see the pain on Mick's face as she clings to him.

Josef turns to tell Robert to get some blood and as he turns he sees Robert already standing behind him with a glass in one hand and a bottle in the other. Robert moves forward and starts to hand the glass to Mick but sees that Mick's hands are shaking too badly to hold it. Mick opens his mouth and Robert slowly pours first the glass of blood and then what's in the bottle into Mick's mouth. Veronica watches and the men can see that she's entranced with the sight of the blood. Mick taps her nose and shakes his head. He gently turns her around so her back is to him and gives her, his wrist. They watch as she sinks her fangs into Mick once again. Mick gently murmurs to her and brushes her hair out of her eyes as she feeds from him.

A few minutes later Veronica coils herself around Mick and gently drifts off to sleep. Robert tries once again to hand Mick a glass of blood and this time his hands look like they can hold it. He takes the blood and slowly drinks it down holding the glass out for more. Josef sits across from Mick watching and waiting. He sees the color and steadiness returning to Mick. He feels bad about scaring Veronica enough to force Mick to consciousness, maybe before his body was ready.

Finally, Mick smiles at them. "Thanks. I needed that."

Robert returns and places two stacks of clean clothes on the bed next to Mick. "Beth and Logan sent these over for when you two woke up." Mick starts to move and Veronica starts to whimper in her sleep. Mick bends down and softly whispers to her. "It's ok little one. I'm not going anywhere. I won't leave you." He rubs her back until she quiets and he then he moves silently away from the bed and gets dressed. "I'd like a shower but if she wakes up and I'm not here it's going to upset her."

Josef watches him closely. "You're still hurting."

Mick snorts at him. "Well, yea. Some asshole jolted me awake."

Josef shrugs. "I didn't know what else to do. When she woke up she was in a total melt down. We tried to do it the easy way but she wouldn't let us. And as hard as you were fighting to break through you weren't doing it. I just nudged you a bit."

Josef watches Mick's eyes as the sadness hits him. "How are Beth and Shannon? You didn't let them come here did you?"

Josef rolls his eyes "I didn't have much choice. You know how she is. Beth and Logan were both here. Beth might take a chance with her own safety to see you, but Finn watched Shannon."

Mick smiles ruefully at Josef "Yea, I know how she is. How did they do? Better or worse?"

Josef nods. "Both better. They needed to see you both for themselves. I refused at first but then realized after three days that neither of you was going to wake up right away so it was ok as long as I was in the room and nobody opened the freezer. The first night was the worst. Beth was practically in the car before I stopped her. It came out of nowhere and she took it hard. Finn's been staying at the apartment with them. Gabriel has been staying with Logan. Robert, Sarah and I have been watching over you two."

"The first night, three days? Shit. How long have we been down?" Mick asks

Josef snorts. "A week."

"Son of a bitch. What did the guy shoot us with silver mercury nitrate?"

"You don't remember?" Josef asks

Mick thinks for a minute and then remembers Veronica's gun. "Silver bullets out of V's gun. Still, a week?"

Josef nods. "You forget; you were eating for two. Baby over there took as much blood as you did and she had it have it all filtered through your system."

Mick nods. "Hadn't thought about that. Hey could you get me a phone? I really need to talk to Beth."

Josef flips him a phone. "Use mine. I'll go ask Robert where he put yours." Mick catches it in the air and Josef smiles "You're coming back fast, about time. I'll call Keith and Logan and give them the good news."

Mick flips the phone open and punches up Beth's cell. She answers on the first ring. "Josef?"

"No baby, it's me."

Mick listens as she begins to cry. He hears her say his name over and over. It's killing him that he's not there to comfort her. "Beth, it's ok. I'm ok. Ssshhh baby, I love you and it's going to fine. Everything is going to be okay."

Beth lets out a ragged breath and tries to pull herself together. "Mick…. when…when did you wake up?"

"Just now. Veronica woke up first and Josef scared her bad enough to jolt me awake. They poured some blood down my throat and now I'm talking to you."

Beth is determined to not break down crying again but just the sound of Mick's voice almost sets her off. "I miss you so much. I….I…Josef told me you can't come home but that's ok as long as I know you're going to be all right."

Mick sighs. "Yea, about that. We'll figure something out but Josef's right. I can't leave her and I sure as hell can't bring her to the apartment. Give me a day or two now that I'm awake and I'll have a better idea of what I'm dealing with…you know I've never done this before."

"I know…. how is she? How's Veronica?"

Mick looks down at Veronica sleeping peacefully on the bed. "She's fed and she's sleeping. That's about all I can tell you right now. I sense she's fine. When Josef frightened her I knew it deep in my bones. It jolted me out of that freezer as if he had threatened you or Shannon. So, I guess I would know if something was wrong with her."

Mick starts to move around the room. He sees the picture under the lamp of his family and smiles as he picks it up. Mick hears Beth trying to hold it together. "I'm sorry. I…it's just…the whole thing is so sudden and confusing. I'm really sorry. I feel like a helpless idiot."

"It's ok Beth. Don't worry. We'll all get through this. I promise everything will be all right. Now can I talk to Shannon? I miss my other girl as well." Beth smiles and holds the phone up to Shannon. "It's daddy. Come say hi to daddy."

Beth watches the little girl crawl up on the couch and sit next to her. Beth hands her the phone and she takes in her little hands. "Daddy?"

Mick smiles with delight when he hears his little girl's voice. "Yes, it's daddy. I miss you."

"Daddy come home?"

"Soon Shannon, Soon."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gabriel snatches up the ringing phone and points it at Logan. "I'll answer it. You keep going. You're on a roll. Don't mess up your concentration now. I'll find out who it is."

Gabriel flips it open and quietly walks across the room where Logan can't hear him. "Josef?"

"Yes. Good news. She's awake, well she was. They are both doing fine. She's fed and gone back to sleep. She's going to be fine."

Gabriel lets out a sigh of relief. "He's going to be very glad to hear it but he's going to want to know when he can be turned and by who. I've kept him busy enough that I haven't had to tell him anything but that's not going to work now."

Josef nods. "I know. I'll come over tomorrow night and we'll talk. I need one more night here to make sure Mick has everything under control before I leave him to it. He just had to call home and talk to Beth and tell her he has no idea when he'll be able to come home. Veronica doesn't need him in a funk so I want to stay close one more night to make sure he gets a kick in the ass if he needs it."

"Sounds good Josef. I hate to interrupt Logan when he's working this well but he should hear this from you."

Gabriel walks across the room quickly and taps Logan on the Shoulder. He smiles down at him as he hands him the phone. "Josef would like to talk to you."

Josef repeats everything he told Gabriel and then worries when he doesn't hear anything from Logan. "Logan?"

"Sorry. I just needed a minute to breathe. When can I see her?"

Josef sighs. "I'm coming over tomorrow night. We'll talk about it then. How's that?"

Logan catches something in Josef's voice that worries him. "Josef, what's wrong?"

"Logan not over the phone. You just need to know that she's fine. I have to make sure everyone is settled in here and I'll see you tomorrow night."

Logan sighs resigning himself to waiting. "All right. I'll see you then."

Josef then makes the same call to Keith. "Thank you Josef and please thank Mick. I'm glad you sent Weevil over here to stay with me. It made it much easier. He told me how things would be for her for a while. Please, when she comes out of the haze have her call me. I need to talk to her. Tell Mick I'm sorry that he won't be able to go home and thank him again for saving her. Weevil explained to me how hard this is going to be for him and his family. If there is anything I can do for Beth and Shannon, please let me know."

Josef smiles. It sounds as though Weevil handled things with Keith just right. "I will Keith. Now stop worrying. It's going to be a couple of days before she can call but Mick or I will update you if anything changes." Josef breaks the connection.

Josef goes in search of Sarah and finds Mick helping Sarah move their clothing and things back into their own room. Veronica is still asleep. Josef smiles. "You and Veronica can stay in the south wing. How does that sound?"

Mick nods. "Fine. I can't go home."

Josef scowls at him. "Mick?"

Mick looks up at Josef shaking his head. "Don't worry. I won't let her feel this…..pain….it's just that I miss Beth and Shannon so much. Don't worry about Veronica though; I'll treat her well. She's mine."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next evening Josef watches Mick from the doorway of his and Veronica's room. Mick has the lights turned way down and jazz softly playing in the background. He's reading the paper in the dim light. Mick turns and looks at Josef. "Josef I can't read your mind. Spit it out."

Josef shrugs. "I just came to see how you two are doing. I'm going to go over and see Logan later and I know he's going to ask me how she is."

Mick smiles. "She's fine. You know how it goes. Her senses are way over hyped." He smiles "But soft jazz seems to calm her. I had to explain to her that the thumping noise that was bothering her was the sound of the heartbeats of the humans that are in the house somewhere. Hopefully all that will start to abate in the next couple of days. As soon as she starts to acclimate I want to get her out around a few humans, maybe a ride in the car and a walk in the park. She needs to learn to adjust to the sounds and smells of humans right away so she can learn to live among them."

Josef nods. "That sounds good." He smiles at Mick. "You've given this some thought."

Mick shrugs. "I remember what it was like and I remember the things that I wish Coraline had done differently. And admittedly I have given this some thought. I just didn't think I would be in this position this soon with this particular blond but we're doing fine. She should be awake in a few minutes. I can feel her hunger starting to build. She's going to want to feed. Now that we're both healthy, I'm going to start giving her human blood from a glass. We'll work on drinking direct down the road when she's more stable."

"Mick, I have to ask you something. How are you going to go about your relationship with Veronica?"

Mick narrows his eyes at Josef. "Are you asking me if I'm going to sleep with her?"

Josef nods. "Yes, I guess I am. If that's the way this is going to be, I'm going to have to prepare Logan."

Mick sighs. "Josef it's not in my plan. I love Beth and only Beth but I will do whatever I have to in order for Veronica to be whole and know that she's cared for. I won't let her come into being a vamp and wondering if I should have let her die. I won't have her living with that kind of regret."

"Good. I like to hear that no matter what it entails." _If it comes to that, Logan is just going to have to learn to get over it._

"Josef, while we're on the subject, if you turn Logan I don't want him in where near her until I say so."

Josef takes a deep breath. He knew this was coming. The protector is too engrained in Mick's basic make up for anything else to happen. "You know he won't hurt her."

Mick nods. "I know he won't mean to. I know he won't want to, but until I trust him he doesn't get near her. As far as I'm concerned two erratic fledglings is one too many."

Josef gives Mick a short nod. "You're her sire. Do whatever you think is best." The last thing Josef wants to do is undermine Mick when he's so intent on doing the right things for Veronica.

Josef wonders what Veronica will have to say about all of this. He walks across the room and peers down into the freezer. Veronica opens her eyes and sees Josef and immediately starts to whimper. Mick is by the side of the freezer in the blink of an eye. Mick growls at Josef "Josef, get out. You're scaring her."

Josef holds up his hands and backs up towards the doorway. He watches Mick very carefully to make sure he's not going to take a swipe at him. "I'm sorry. I would never want to hurt her you know that."

Mick takes a deep breath. "Yea, but she doesn't know it. Josef, please, just stay away from her for a while. I think she's still freaked out about you growling at her when she first woke up."

Josef nods. "Yea, probably not a great idea in retrospect." Josef watches silently as the freezer lid opens and Veronica silently slides out and moves to sit in Mick's lap. He softly whispers to her. She instantly calms down and Josef feels both their anxiety melt away. Mick lifts his wrist to her mouth. She sighs with contentment as she sinks her fangs into his wrist.

Mick smiles at Josef "Comfort food."

Josef smiles and nods at Mick. Softly so he doesn't frighten Veronica again he continues. "Like I said, I'm going over to Logan's. Now that you two are doing all right I need to spend some time with him and see how he's reacting to all of this. Is there anything I can get you at the apartment or anything else I can do?"

Mick nods. "I'll call Beth and talk to her. She can have my stuff ready and I'll give you a list for Veronica."

Josef nods. "I'll stop by on my way out. Just let me know what she needs."

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **One more in the can…..**


	10. Chapter 10

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.**

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Josef taps on the door and smiles when Beth opens it. "Come on in Josef. I talked to Mick and he told me what he needed. I put everything he asked for in the suit case by the front door."

Josef watches her and is relieved to see how much better she is doing. "Thanks Beth. One thing Mick probably didn't tell you, was he asked me to give you this."

Josef hands her an envelope. She looks at him quizzically and begins to open it. Josef lays his hand on hers and stops her. He smiles gently at her. "I suspect it's probably something you want to read when you've got some time to yourself."

Beth smiles at him. "Thank you. I'll do that."

Josef turns and picks up the suitcase. "Well, I have to go across the hall and deal with Logan. Beth if you need anything…."

Beth nods. "Don't worry Josef, I'll ask. I'm fine now and Finn is still here with us."

Josef nods. "Good. Well, I'll see you later." He begins to turn to leave but hesitates.

Beth watches him wondering what's going on. "Josef? Everything really is all right?"

Quickly he turns back to reassure her. "Yes, of course. I…look Beth you may not realize it right now but I think in the long run, where you and Mick are concerned this helps him."

Beth cocks her head and looks at him. "Really?"

"I just think now that Mick has been forced into this role he will understand that turning someone isn't as scary as he might have thought. I know he had agreed to turn you when you were ready but I still think he had some reservations." He watches Beth narrow her eyes at him. "Not because he didn't want you with him, because he was afraid he might fail you. Mick remembers all too well what it was like for him before he found you." Beth's softens at the thought of Mick's worry. "When you've never done this, never been this responsible for someone else it can be a bit daunting. I can give him advice but when it all comes down to it, he has to be the one to make those final decisions. No one can help him shoulder the responsibility for how it turns out. I think this will give him more confidence and make him a better sire than he might have been."

Beth shakes her head. "You know, I never had any doubts that he would be a wonderful sire. Josef, do you think he's a good father?"

"Of course."

Beth continues, "I know the two things aren't exactly the same but I think the same things that make him a good father will make him a good sire. Josef, no one really knows if they will be a good parent until they are one. You do what you think is best and hope it's enough. He may have had some doubts but I never did."

"You're probably right. I never thought about it in those terms. I know he's intent on making sure she's happy in her new life." Josef sighs. "As I said, now I have to go deal with Logan."

Beth puts her hand on Josef's arm as he turns. "Josef, you are a good father, I've seen that for myself and Sarah tells me you are a good sire. Do what you think is best. I'm sure you will do the right thing for Logan."

"Thanks Beth." She watches as he leaves the apartment.

Josef drops the suitcase in the hall. He'll grab it on his way out. He starts to tap on the door to Logan's apartment but stops and just tries the door. Finding it unlocked he walks in. With Mick gone it bothers him that the door is unlocked but then he remembers that Gabriel and Finn are close at hand. He stays silent in the doorway watching his son tapping away at the laptop. Gabriel glances at Josef.

Josef braces himself for a conversation that he's pretty sure is not going to be a lot of fun for either him or Logan. _No use putting it off any longer._ Josef clears his throat and Logan looks up seeing him at the door. Logan shuts the laptop without a second thought. Apparently he's still not ready to share whatever it is that he and Gabriel have been working on. Josef moves into the room. "Mind if I pour myself a drink?"

Logan shrugs. "Of course not." He tries to keep his nervousness from showing. He knows Josef will be able to tell but that's not really the point. He needs to at least try and stay calm and not say something stupid.

Josef sits in the chair drink in hand and watches Logan.

Logan looks at Josef and quietly asks him. "How is she?"

"She's doing fine. She's still a bit hyper sensitive to sight and sound but that's perfectly normal. Mick said he is going to start to move her over to human blood. It's a good sign that she's healthy enough not to need his blood to heal her anymore. She'll still want his blood on occasion but it's more like comfort food for her now. She looks good, if not a bit pale. Oh, and she's real unhappy with me."

Logan scowls at him. "What did you do?"

Josef glances at Gabriel. "I scared her…..bad." Josef relates to them what he had done to wake Mick up.

Gabriel shakes his head. "You're lucky Mick didn't take your head off."

Josef nods. "He still might. I was in their wing tonight to check on them and she didn't like it one bit. Consequently, he didn't like it either. I think I'm going to have to give her some room until she starts to get use to me again."

"What color are her eyes?" Logan asks

Josef looks at him questioningly. "You know her eyes are blue."

Logan shakes his head. "No, I mean what color are they when she's gone vamp?"

Josef smiles as he remembers, "They are silver. I've never met a vamp with pure silver eyes before. I think it must be because of all the silver she ingested at her turning. It's the only thing I can think of that would account for that. She actually looks pretty damn beautiful with silver eyes. It suits her."

Logan smiles at the image. "Fangs?"

Josef snickers. "Yea, top and bottom." He clicks his teeth together.

Josef hears Logan's heartbeat pick up and sense's his blood pressure spike. _Here it comes._

"When can I see her?"

Josef takes a deep breath. "I don't know." _I don't know when Mick will allow it. I don't know when it will be safe for you._

Gabriel watches father and son tiptoe around this and wonders how long this can go on.

"Turn me. I want to be turned." Logan blurts out. He hadn't meant to do it like that but there it is. He holds his breath and waits for Josef's answer.

Josef shakes his head and looks down. "I can't and I think you should wait."

Logan looks at Josef with pleading eyes. "Josef I want you to turn me. Please?"

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why? So that Veronica and I can be together again. It's what we decided. You know that."

Josef gulps down the rest of his drink and gets up to pour himself another. As he walks back to the chair he looks at Logan. "It's not that simple."

"Sure it is." Logan says with all the confidence of a human.

"Logan this is a really bad idea. Turning you just because Veronica had to be turned ahead of time isn't a good enough reason and as I said, I can't do it."

Logan shakes his head. "I don't understand. You agreed when we announced that was what we wanted to do."

"And that was my plan. I was going to find a suitable sire for Veronica and I would turn you myself. The problem is that the time has come to soon. Sarah still needs me in ways that make it impossible for me to have another fledgling to care for. Beyond that I still think you need to pull back and wait."

Logan shakes his head. "I'm not waiting. I was always the one who wanted to be turned but we were waiting for her to find a way to tell her dad so we could be turned together."

"I understand that, but I think you just need to wait until things calm down. There's too much turmoil right now. Wait and see how Veronica feels about her transformation. She may need things from you that you won't be able to give her if you're a fledgling as well. If you're turned, you're probably not going to be steady enough emotionally to help her if she needs it. Mick is her sire but you're the one that's supposed to be in love with her."

Josef senses Logan's shift in mood. Josef feels Logan's anger starting to build. "If you can't, I'll find someone who can. Vanessa or Ashley will do it."

Josef shakes his head. "No, they won't. Neither of them would go against me on this. No one will."

Logan narrows his eyes at Josef. "You forget, if what Grant says about my blood is true, I don't really need any of you. I will turn on my own."

Josef wondered how long it would take them to get here. He stands up and starts to pace. "Let me ask you this, what could be the worst thing that could happen if you waited?"

Logan shakes his head. "I told you I'm not waiting." 

Gabriel cuts in. "Answer your father. It's a good question."

Logan glances at Gabriel. "I could lose her. I could lose her for good this time."

Josef shakes his head. "Not a good enough answer. I will lock your ass up and have you watched twenty-four hours a day if I have to, but you will not be turned or try and turn on your own without my say so."

Logan doesn't bother to tell Josef he can't do that. He knows his father well enough to know he can and will.

Josef stands and looks out the window into the darkness. He makes his decision and turns back to Logan. "There's no easy way to say this, what you want or don't want doesn't really matter anymore where Veronica is concerned." Josef holds up his hand before he can be interrupted. "There is only one person that matters to her at this point and that's Mick."

Logan watches Josef. "Josef, what aren't you telling me?"

Gabriel shakes his head and wonders if this might come better from him. He glances at Josef who shrugs. Gabriel turns back to Logan and sits across from him. "What you don't realize is you've just gone from being the second most important man in her life, assuming her father was first, to third. Because Mick is her sire she will do whatever he says without question. Her whole world is going to revolve around Mick, at least for a while. How long it lasts depends on the fledgling. I've never met her so I don't know how much of her human personality will impact her as a vampire."

Josef snorts. "Stubborn, independent, single minded….a royal pain in the…"

Gabriel smiles and glances at Josef. "You two must have been a joy to have in the same room."

Josef tries to look indignant but Logan notices he doesn't quite pull it off. Gabriel continues. "Even if she is one of those that breaks away early she will still most likely need him near for quite some time. It's hard to explain. It's like they just need that safety net close. Logan, believe me when I tell you, you do not want to get on the wrong side of that relationship, no matter who you are."

Josef nods. "If this could have been coordinated so that you both had sires that were experienced in being a sire and everything was prepared ahead of time this probably wouldn't be a problem but that's not how it's played out. Mick has never done this before and you know how protective he is of Beth and Shannon; this isn't going to be any different with Veronica."

Gabriel suspected as much. "Josef truthfully, how do you think he will do as her sire? Mick has some series issues is he going to pass them on to Veronica?"

Josef turns to Gabriel. Glad for the distraction in the conversation. "It is the first time he's done this but I think he will be fine. As Beth pointed out to me, he's a wonderful father and in this case a lot of the same traits go into being a sire. Do you know what Coraline did to him?"

Gabriel nods. "Yes, Unfortunately I didn't know enough about your personal life, even though we were doing business all those years to find out Mick was around before she got to him."

Josef gives Gabriel a nod of acceptance and continues. "Six months or a year ago I would have been very alarmed at the prospect of Mick turning anyone, even Beth but the impact of her presence over time continues to make him whole. In addition, having Finn around has done him a great deal of good. He's keeping fresh blood in the house for the first time since he broke from Coraline. I thought that turning Beth would be the thing that would seal it forever but this might work as well. Being Shannon's father and Veronica's sire brings these two worlds together forever. Mick more than anyone knows what it's like to spend so much of your life miserable. He's made it plain to me that he will do whatever he has to in order to make sure that she doesn't end up regretting what she's become."

Gabriel relaxes "I hope your right."

Josef nods. "I am. Mick takes his responsibilities seriously. He will do whatever he thinks is necessary to see that she's happy."

Josef turns to Logan. "The problem where you're concerned is that he's gotten protective, which considering he watched over Beth for twenty some years isn't much of a surprise. It's who he is."

Logan narrows his eyes. "Are you saying he won't let me see her?"

Josef sits down heavily in the chair. "Yes, Logan I'm trying to tell you he won't let you see her. Right now because it's not safe for you or anyone human to be near her, later if you're turned for her own protection. He will not chance you being out of control and hurting her physically or emotionally. He told me point blank, that if you're turned he doesn't want you anywhere near her until he says it's all right. "

"But you'll talk to him, right? You'll make him see that I'm what's best for her."

Josef shakes his head. "No. I won't. I'm not going to undermine his confidence that he's doing the right thing. Look, Mick and Veronica have only been up and moving for less than forty-eight hours. Let Mick get his bearings and see how this goes. If you or I or anyone backs him into a corner he's going to dig in and then come out swinging and I'm here to tell you that if you try and get between a sire and a fledgling you will lose and by making her choose, you will most likely break her heart. Until she gets settled she's going to pick him every time. It's just the way it is."

The color drains from Logan's face as another thought come to light. "Josef, you don't think he's going to want her as more than….."

Josef leans forward and looks at Logan. "All I can tell you is that the love of Mick's life is Beth and he will try to keep from sleeping with Veronica, it's not what he wants but if it's the only way to make her happy he will most likely go ahead. Logan I don't want to be cruel but as for Mick sleeping with Veronica, if it comes to that, you need to just get over it."

Gabriel scowls at Josef from behind Logan's back.

Logan looks like he's about to punch the wall.

Josef throws up his hands in frustration. "I'm not trying to be an ass but there are some facts you're just going to have to live with. Mick is her sire. No one has the right to undermine or challenge that. Not you, not me, not anyone. He will do his very best and he will treat her a damn site better than he was treated. If you think about how he got into this, saving your girlfriends life, you damn well should shut the hell up and be grateful that this time he said yes because when Beth begged him to turn someone she loved he said no. I would remind you of what he's giving up in the process. You think he wants to be separated from his family?"

Logan knows Josef is right but he doesn't have to like it. Logan stands up and moves to the kitchen.

Gabriel looks across at Josef. "I'll do it. I'll turn him." Gabriel says it so softly, that only Josef's exceptional hearing picks it up.

Josef shakes his head. "You're not listening to me either. It doesn't matter if he's turned in fact it's probably worse because Mick is more apt to let him see her if he stays human."

Josef hears a sound from the kitchen he doesn't like. He moves quickly and finds Logan, a glass in one hand a bottle of bourbon in the other. Josef firmly removes the bottle from Logan's grasp. He pours a small amount of the liquid into the glass. "Listen to me. Do you want to see Veronica again any time soon?"

Logan nods. "Of course."

"Then get your shit together because mark my words if Mick thinks you've become erratic, human or vamp he will take measures to keep her as far away from you as he can."

"He doesn't have to know if you don't tell him." Logan responds sulkily.

Josef shakes his head. "Haven't you learned anything about vampires? Mick will know what you are feeling five minutes before you do. He's a vamp. He can tell if you've been drinking or if you're just plain getting crazy or doing things your ashamed of. He will know. I won't have to tell him."

Logan paces the room. "Shit. I can't do this right now. I'm going upstairs. I've got to do something to get this worked out of my system."

Josef faces him. "That's fine, do whatever you need to but don't get off track. Before you go upstairs I have a list of a few things I need for Veronica. Can you pack them up for her?"

Logan takes the list and feels like she's taking one more step away from him. "Yea, I hate this but I'll do it. Give me a few minutes to gather this stuff up."

Logan returns with a suitcase and lays it down next to Josef. "That's everything on the list and a couple more things that I'm sure she's going to want. If I think of anything more, I'll let you know. Look, I know you won't intervene for me but if Mick even looks like he'll change his mind or let me even see her for even a few minutes …anything…"

Josef nods. "I'll let you know. Logan, I'm telling you please give this some time. Let Mick get comfortable with his new role. Once he calms down he may allow some contact. Don't do anything rash."

Logan nods. "All right for now." Josef watches as he stalks out of the room.

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Another one down….**


	11. Chapter 11

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.**

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick hands Veronica a tall glass of blood. She sniffs it and smiles at him. "It smells different than your blood."

"It is different. It's fresh, A positive, from a human. It's alive with the things that you need to keep you healthy. My blood won't do that for you anymore. You only needed my blood until your body healed itself."

"But what does it taste like?"

Mick laughs. "You won't know until you try it. Come on, drink up."

Veronica sips from the glass taking a little of the liquid into her mouth, tasting it. Mick watches her eyes light up and she smiles drinking the blood down. "You're right. It's very good. So is this what I'll drink from now on?"

Mick nods. "For now. Later you'll learn to feed direct, but you're not ready for that yet. You might find that if you are upset that you'll want my blood but that's out of comfort not need."

"Feeding direct means drinking blood from a live person?" Veronica asks wide-eyed

"Yes, but you're not ready for that yet so don't worry about it. How are you feeling?"

Veronica nods. "Good. I feel very good."

Mick reaches over and turns the light up a notch and watches her reaction. He nods with approval when she doesn't flinch. "Your senses are adjusting very quickly. Since that's the case maybe there are a couple of things we can do tomorrow night."

Veronica cocks her head. "Like what?"

"I think it's time we got out in the world a little bit. How about going for a ride in the car and maybe even a walk in the park? It's a way to get use to the sounds and smells of humans. We'll go out in the early evening so there are still a few people out moving around. You need to do this a little at a time."

Veronica smiles broadly at him. "Really? That would be great. I'd love to go out. Do you think we can go see Logan?"

Mick smiles softly at her and shakes his head. "Not yet. It's too soon. At first it's easier to be around strangers than it is humans you know and love. Later when you have developed some control we'll talk about you seeing Logan. You need to get the basics down. That's the whole point of getting used to being around humans a little at a time. You don't want to accidentally hurt anyone."

Veronica sighs. He doesn't feel distress from her at his refusal, just disappointment. "Alright but maybe I could talk to him on the phone? Do you think I could do that?"

"How about if you start out with your dad? I know he'd love to hear from you." Mick tells her gently.

Her face softens at the mention of her father. "That sounds like a good idea. I bet he's been worried."

Mick nods. "He's better now. Josef called him to tell him that you were awake and doing all right but it's not the same as hearing someone's voice. Call your dad and let me think about Logan for a while. Can you do that?"

Veronica nods. "Yea. I'll call my dad now."

"Ok, I'm going to go downstairs while you do that. Is that ok?" Mick watches her to see how anxious this is going to make her.

"I guess…you won't leave the house though, right?"

Mick smiles. "Right. I won't go anywhere without you. I just want to talk to Josef for a bit. You don't leave this wing though, ok?"

Veronica scowls at the mention of Josef's name. "You can be sure I'll stay right here."

Mick takes her hand. "Listen. You are in absolutely in no danger from Josef. He would never hurt you but if you want, I'll ask him to stay out of this wing of the house until you are feeling better about his presence."

Veronica nods. "Thank you. I know he won't hurt me but he scares me still. Part of it is I can feel things from Josef that were never there before."

Mick nods for her to continue. "He's so old and he has so much power and I can feel it sort of in the background. After what happened when we woke up it's too over whelming right now."

"It's not a problem. I'll explain to him and ask him to stay out of this wing. I'm sure he'll agree when he realizes it's what you need right now."

Veronica looks a little embarrassed. "Thanks. I'm just not ready for Josef. I wouldn't mind though if Sarah came to visit."

"That's a good idea but maybe later on, in a few days we'll see about Sarah coming to visit. Now go call your dad."

Veronica watches Mick leave the room. He can feel her anxiety but as long as it's manageable for her he's going to continue. Hopefully calling her dad will keep her mind off him being out of her sight.

Mick enters Josef's study and sees him doing paperwork at his desk. He looks up when Mick enters the room and narrows his eyes. "Where's Veronica?"

"She's upstairs calling her dad. She's a little anxious but she's all right. I wouldn't leave her if I thought she couldn't take it for a few minutes. Josef, there are a couple of things I need to talk to you about. First of all, Veronica has requested that you stay out of the wing we're living in for bit. You've got her spooked."

Josef leans back in his chair. "If that's what you think she needs I can do that. Not a problem. What else?"

Mick starts to pace the room thinking. "She wants to see Logan."

"But you don't want her to?"

"Not yet. There's no way it's close to being safe for him to be around her. I also want her to get grounded and comfortable being a vampire before she gets side tracked with Logan. The truth is I hadn't thought she would ask to see him this soon but I should have known. She loves him. I can feel it when she says his name."

Josef smiles at that. "What did you tell her?"

"Just what I've told you, that I want her to get the basics first. Has he asked to see her?"

Josef sighs. "Pretty much the first thing out of his mouth when I talked to him. That was before he asked me to turn him."

"Are you going to do it?"

"No, not yet. If you don't want him to see her then turning him isn't going to improve his disposition. I'm trying to get him to see that waiting a couple of months isn't the end of the world. He's afraid he's going to lose her if he waits." Josef throws his pen on the desk "And to be honest he's not happy about the idea of anyone else sleeping with her and that's not a good enough reason to turn him. Gabriel wasn't very happy with me but I told him to get over it."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick looks across the seat at Veronica. She's stretched out the seat of the Benz sound asleep. He smiles remembering how excited she was to get to leave the house. Everything had gone really well for most of the night. He'd driven around different area's that still had crowds of people moving around. At one point he saw a theater emptying out after a movie. Mick parked along the street and they sat watching as the people moved to their cars.

Mick watches Veronica's reactions as she picks up on all the different emotions that people were taking away from the movie. At one point she scrunches her nose. "What's that smell?"

Mick smiles. "Ah, you put a lot of humans in one space for three hours and they tend to stink. It's not bad enough that any of them can smell it but to your nose it's not pleasant."

"I'll say." She replies. "It must have been an exciting movie. Most of them are still getting an adrenaline rush from it. I can see that some of them look flush and their hearts are beating a little fast." She turns in the seat to look at Mick. "Will I ever get to go to the movies again?"

Mick shrugs. "To tell you the truth, you'll probably feel a lot more comfortable and enjoy the movie more at home with a drink. Trying to watch a movie with all those heartbeats and all that blood rushing around in a confined space isn't all that much fun. Josef has a really nice movie theater at the house. I know if there is anything you'd like to see he either has it or can get it. He doesn't use it all that much but the freshies love it. Come on; let's drive over to the park. We'll go for a walk."

Mick parks in the lot at Griffith Park and they get out. "Perfect timing. There are still a good group of people around but the crowd is starting to thin out." Mick stops and sees Veronica trying to look everywhere at once. He stops her. "Look at me." She turns to him. "If at any time you feel your control starting to slip or you start to get anxious you tell me right away." He knows he'll be able to sense her feelings but he wants her to pay attention to what is going on inside herself as well.

They start to get out. "We'll just walk for a while. Try and use all your senses to absorb what's going on around you, but tell me if you start to get overwhelmed."

She nods enthusiastically at him. "I will."

They walk amongst the people strolling through the park. Veronica stops dead and he can tell she's trying to separate her senses, trying to zero in one particular thing in the area. She points into the darkness just to the south of them and looks at Mick. She whispers to him. "There's people…two of them…making out in the woods over there."

He laughs "Very good. It's good that you could pick out one thing with other people around. Was it the sounds of their accelerated heartbeats or the smell of them that you noticed first?"

"I'm not really sure, I think their heartbeats. I just knew they were there and what they were doing." She laughs.

They continue to walk. Mick senses that she wants to ask him something but is apprehensive. Soon they are away from what's left of the crowd. Mick stops. "Ok, what do you want to ask me?"

Veronica looks at him shyly. "Did you think about when I can see Logan? You said you would think about it."

Mick shakes his head. "Veronica, I really think you need to give it a couple of weeks at least before we talk about you seeing or talking to Logan. Josef will keep him up to date on how you're doing so he won't worry. Please, just a couple weeks and then maybe you can talk to him on the phone. You need to get comfortable with the world around you."

He watches her hang her head looking at her feet, disappointment radiating from her. Mick stands in front of her and looks down at the tiny figure. "Veronica?"

She nods without looking at him. Both of them are so lost in their own thoughts that even Mick doesn't sense anyone near until they are very close. Mick whirls around to find Clint and Marshal standing behind him. "Hey, Mick."

"Well, the lost boys…. plus one." He says as he notices the third member of the party bringing up the rear. "Janine what are you doing with this motley duo." Veronica's head snaps up and she notices right away that Mick has instinctively put his body between her and the new comers. She wonders if they are dangerous.

Janine smiles "We've got a new business venture." Mick watches Janine glance at Marshall and Clint. "We're out looking for some juicy stuff on the more prominent members of the tribe. We saw that beast of yours parked in the lot and thought we'd see what was up with you."

"Yea, Josef told me about that. You have a gossip web page for vamps? You know better than to write about me or Josef, right?" Mick glowers at the three of them.

Janine looks at him speculatively. "Josef maybe, he is after all one of our backers."

Mick smiles. "Josef's backing your gossip web page? What's he getting out of it?"

Janine rolls her eyes. "We had to promise not to write anything about him or his family. But nobody said anything about you and you are a very hot topic in the community these days. I'd love to get the scoop on what's up with you."

All three of them are trying to get a look behind him. He can feel Veronica pressed up against him. He's starting to get pissed. Mick growls and shows them his fangs and they stop cold. "You're scaring her. Stop it now."

They all stand perfectly still. Nobody moves a muscle.

Quietly Janine breaks the spell. "We just want to meet your new friend."

Mick watches them fangs still showing. "This is her first trip outside since she's been turned. You three are scaring her and if you don't stop now, I'm going to get really pissed."

All three back up and stop trying to look behind him.

Janine tries again but with a little distance between her and Mick. "Ah, come on Mick, talk to us. I heard a rumor and I just want to see if it was true." Janine purrs at him.

"And that would be?" Mick asks her warily

"That you sired a woman and it isn't your human and since I smell a new member of the tribe behind you, I'm guessing that's her. Come on Mick fess up. What's up with you? Our readers would love to hear what the deal is. Our hit count always goes way up when we do blind items on a famous L.A. private detective. You've been dogging the same human for years. Hell you're even helping her raise her kid."

Clint blurts out. "Some of us have had a pool going for the last couple of years on when you'll turn her. She really screwed up a lot of picks when she got pregnant." Clint would love to ask Mick about the kid but knows it would be taking his life in his hands and he likes being undead.

Mick scowls at him.

Janine keeps going. "You've always been crazy for that blond reporter. So what's up with the fledgling?"

Mick shakes his head. "I swear; vampires are worse than humans when it comes to gossip. Yes, I turned a family friend. There was no choice. She's been shot and she was dying. She had already made the decision to be turned it was just supposed to be at a later date."

Janine tries to peak around Mick again. "Can we meet her?"

Veronica doesn't think they sound so scary and they don't smell all that old. She thinks the woman is about the same age as Mick.

Mick shakes his head. "No, I told you this is her first trip out and she doesn't need to have strangers scaring her." _Josef was enough._

Mick feels a tug on his jacket from behind. He looks over his shoulder and Veronica is nodding at him. "Come on. You won't let me see Logan. At least let meet them. You said you wanted me to get comfortable. They don't seem so scary."

Mick scowls at her.

"Who's Logan and how come you won't let her see him?" Janine asks

Veronica pokes her head out from around Mick and looks at Janine "He's my boyfriend but he's still human. We were going to be turned together but then I got shot so he's going to be turned later."

Suddenly Janine grins at Veronica slyly. "This wouldn't be Josef's son would it? As I recall his name is Logan."

Veronica nods at Janine still from behind Mick.

Janine laughs. "I met him at Josef's party. Oh, girl I have to talk to you." Clint and Marshal watch with interest.

Remembering the night of the party Mick shakes his head. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Oh, come on Mick, just a little girl talk. That human of hers is hot. I need to tell her something you probably won't mention."

Marshal watches as Veronica comes out from behind Mick and stands next to him. Mick puts his arm around her protectively. Marshal backs up slowly and then quickly snaps her picture. Veronica lets out a cry when the flash hits her full in the face. Mick doesn't stop to sense that she's just surprised not hurt. He grabs Marshal up by the front of his shirt. He takes the camera away from him and pulls out the memory card then he snaps it in half. Mick lets out a low growl; he's completely vamped out. "You never learn. You're lucky I don't snap you in half. First rule of being a vamp, never mess with an angry sire."

"Sorry. Man, I forgot she's probably still jumpy." Marshal raises his arms and slides out of his shirt and coat. He quickly moves away from Mick. Mick looks at the bunched up clothes in his hand and shakes his head. He throws them on the ground. "Marshal you mess around again and I'll get a piece of you next time. You understand me?"

Marshal nods. "Hey, I said I was sorry."

Janine slowly moves behind Mick while he still has a hold of Marshal and smiles at Veronica. "Hey, my name is Janine." Janine sticks out her hand to Veronica who cautiously shakes hands with her. "I'm Veronica."

Mick turns to watch Janine and Veronica. Janine slowly moves closer to Veronica. "Before this big lug takes you away I just want to give you one piece of advice."

Veronica tilts her head watching Janine. "Before Logan gets turned, talk tall dark and humorless here, into letting you get a taste of Logan first. My bet he's going to taste yummy either way but you really need to have one good taste before it's gone forever. Human blood from someone you love is amazing and believe me Logan will love it"

Veronica laughs as Janine winks at her.

Mick rolls his eyes. "Janine that's enough."

Janine smiles at him. "You know I'm right."

Mick gives her a half smile. _Yea, I do._

"Look guys you know who she is, she's under Mine and Josef's protection." He looks at Janine pointedly. "And she's family. If you put anything about either of us on your web page, I can guarantee you'll get a visit you are not going to like." Mick turns to Veronica and starts to move her away from the trio.

"Veronica, after you taste that human of yours you come visit and you can thank me." Janine tells Veronica as Mick moves her away from the trio.

Suddenly Veronica looks up at him. "Are you ashamed of me?"

Mick stops dead in his tracks. "No. Never. What gave you that idea?"

She shrugs sadly and begins to walk again. "You don't want anyone to know about me, that you're my sire."

Mick stops her and gives her a quick hug. "It's not about me being your sire. It's just safer for you if no one knows about you because of your connection to Josef. You're very vulnerable right now. It's the same reason no one knows that Shannon is my daughter. It's safer for her. Do you understand?"

She nods slowly. "I guess. As long as there isn't something wrong with me."

He turns quickly and hugs her tightly. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You're perfect and once you can defend yourself and aren't a fledgling everyone will know you are part of the tribe. I just want you to be safe."

Veronica smiles. "Okay."

Mick changes direction. "Let's head to the car. It's time to go home. You've been out long enough."

Veronica shakes her head. "No, I want to stay out longer. Please Mick? You said I needed to get used to being around people. It's the only way I'll get to see Logan."

Against his better judgment he gives in to her request. She is right, getting use to humans is the only way she's going to get to see Logan. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long and she is tired, hungry and over extended. He watches as she starts to get cranky and a little vamped out. He pulls her into his arms and bodily carries her through the shadows, back to the car so that she won't vamp out all the way and go after someone. As he approaches the car he's glad he parked away from anyone else in the darker part of the lot. He gets in the car and gives her his wrist to feed from. It doesn't nourish her but it does fill her up enough that she promptly goes to sleep. This is his fault. No more staying out longer than he knows is good for her. From now on he will go with what his instincts tell him.

Mick carries her from the car to the house and begins to fumble with the front door. It opens quickly and he moves inside. Josef and Robert both watch as he carries Veronica into the house. "What happened?"

Mick lays her on the couch in Josef's study. He senses she'll sleep quite a while so he's not worried about her waking and being frightened of Josef. "Nothing she's fine. I let her talk me into staying out a little later than we should have. We ran into Marshal, Clint and Janine in the park. They scared her for a little bit but she got over it quick enough. She just had a full night. I fed her a bit and she went right to sleep."

Josef nods. "I know I don't have to tell you to….."

Before he can finish Mick stops him with a wave of his hand. "I know. I just felt bad because she was asking me about Logan again and I had to tell her no. I let it get in the way of my better judgment. I won't let it happen again."

Josef sits in his chair "You know he calls me every morning before I go to the freezer to ask about her."

"Is he still asking you about turning him?"

"No, but I'm thinking he'll hold on for about two or three weeks and then we are going to have to have a real go round about it again. I can see it coming."

Mick frowns. "I'm sorry Josef. I just think it's a bad idea for now."

"I know and you're right. He just can't see the big picture at this point."

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Another one down**


	12. Chapter 12

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.**

 **This takes place a couple of years after Possession.**

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick only has his own turning to compare Veronica's progress to, but it seems to him that she is leaps and bounds ahead of where he was at this stage. He supposes a great deal of it is the difference in their attitudes. He fought Coraline every single step of the way. This close to the beginning his only goal was to find a way to die. Veronica, on the other hand embraces every new experience, every new challenge, making the most of life is her goal. She loves all her new abilities and can't wait to master them. Although he is certain that if he kidnapped unsuspecting women and made Veronica drink from them till she drained them, as Coraline had done with him, Veronica might not be so happy about the prospects of her future. The world is a different place for Veronica's turning. Josef makes all the comforts available, such as blood on tap certainly doesn't hurt. She'll have time to come to grips with her life before she has to learn to take blood from a human and even then, they will be more than happy to volunteer. He snorts at the thought that it's almost a bloodless turning, if not for the bullets, it would have been so clean and free of physical or emotional pain. He almost resents it until he remembers it will most certainly be the same for Beth and the thought cheers him. Any pain Beth can be spared is a good thing.

Veronica is doing very well up to this point. She's getting more and more comfortable around humans. He is very proud of her. He hates to see anything hold her back, even his own reluctance to face something she needs. They are closing in on the end of their second week together and he can see she's starting to get antsy. Her next lesson was to be drinking from living donors but he notices that every day she seems to be getting more agitated and short tempered. After three days of this he sits her down on one end of the couch and he faces her from the other end. "Tell me what's up with you. What's bothering you?" He watches her closely to see if she even realizes what she wants.

"I want to see Logan. I'm tired of this. You won't even let me talk to him."

"That it?" He asks smiling at her. Mick's been expecting this. He knows her own innate stubbornness is the only thing that's kept her from even acknowledging that she wants Logan in her bed again. She knows she can't have him so until now she hasn't asked. Her desire is finally starting to become too much for her to ignore.

"Yes. That's it." She quietly growls at him.

Mick can feel the anger rolling off her. He feels bad because he probably should have prodded her into at least acknowledging this before now. "You know as well as I do you can't see him."

"But I should be able to talk to him. We've been at this for a month. I've done everything you've asked. What do I have to do to get to see Logan?"

"It hasn't been a month. It just feels like it." He continues before she can argue. "You need to do a couple of things first."

She narrows her eyes at him. "Like what?"

"First you need to learn to feed directly from a human. I was going to teach you that this week but you've been so cranky I was afraid you'd hurt one of the girls. If you can truly conquer your bloodlust you can see Logan. In order for that to happen you need to take the edge off. You have to listen to your body. Do you know what it wants?"

She gives him a sour look full of anger and resentment. "Yes, it wants Logan…. right now…"

Quietly he asks her. "Do you know why?"

"I miss him." He almost laughs when she begins to pout. He's tempted to take a picture to show her later when she's back to her old self.

"That's it, you're sure?" He wants to see if she's registering the fact that she wants him beyond missing him.

He watches her thinking about his question and sees her come to a decision. He sees the determination on her face. She moves down the couch and sits on her knees facing him. "I miss him and I want to get laid. How's that?"

Mick laughs. He can't help it. He rubs her arm and softly he tells her. "V, you know you can't sleep with him so soon. It would be a really bad idea. I can almost guarantee you he'd get hurt very badly. You have nowhere near the amount of control it's going to take to keep from hurting him." Mick takes a deep breath. He's sure she's not going to like this but the suggestion needs to be made. "An alternative is that I could find a vamp that would ah…. take care of this problem for you."

He easily grabs her hand as it just misses his face. He shows her his fangs and completely vamps out. He doesn't hurt her but this cannot be allowed, especially with a fledgling this will full. Holding her tight he grabs her chin with his other hand to make sure she is looking directly at him. "You will never do that again. I am your sire and you will show respect. I have never done anything that I did not think is in your best interests. My suggestion was only an alternative to the problem. It was not intended as an insult." _Good grief, I sound like Josef._

He watches as her face crumbles and she begins to cry. He sits back on the couch and holds out his arms and she crawl in close to him and cries on his shoulder. He holds her close and gently rubs her back. He hears her mumbling something against his shoulder. He leans back. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I just want Logan. I don't want anyone else. You won't even let me talk to him. If I could talk to him, it would be alright."

"Veronica it's not going to take care of you getting laid and I'm afraid that if you talk to him it won't be enough and you'll just want to be with him even more."

Suddenly she stops crying and scrunches her nose at him. "What year where you born?"

He looks at her puzzled. "Nineteen twenty-two. What's that got to do with anything?" He wonders where this is going.

She takes a deep breath. "I'm going to have to explain sex to you in the twenty-first century."

Mick shakes his head. "What does that mean?"

She looks at him like he's slow. "It means if you give me Logan and a phone and a bed, I'll be fine. Obviously it won't be as good as having him next to me but Logan has a hell of a voice and great imagination. Believe me, it will be fine."

Mick starts to laugh. He gives her a quick hug, as she looks annoyed by his obvious amusement. "You're right. It never would have occurred to me that phone sex would have been anywhere near enough to help you out with this. Are you sure this will be ah…satisfying enough?"

"Like I said, it's not near as much as I want but it will work until we can be together again." She leers at him. "We've been apart before and we have a certain amount of practice with this."

Mick smiles at her "I'm going to trust that you know your body well enough that this will work for you but if you start to have problems because it's not, we will revisit this conversation again. All right?"

Veronica nods.

Mick gets up off the couch. "Give me a day and I'll see what I can arrange. Can you do that?"

Veronica shrugs. "I don't have much choice, do I?"

He smiles down at her. "Go have a glass of blood and go listen to some music. I'm going to go talk to Josef."

Mick enters Josef's study to find him putting papers in his briefcase. "Going to the office?"

"In a couple of hours. I just need to check and see how things are going." Josef looks up at Mick. "You know you're going to have to make a decision one way or the other pretty quickly. I've haven't spoken to her since she asked that I stay away but I even I can sense that she's getting antsy and I'm guessing she's stopped progressing. You're going to have to either sleep with her or find some else to do it. I can tell you it's not going to get any better. She needs to calm down and there is only one way to do that."

Mick snickers. "Veronica and I just had a discussion about this subject. She had a suggestion I would not have thought would work but she assures me that if she can talk to Logan the problem will solve itself."

"Really?" Josef looks somewhat skeptical.

Mick can't help but grin. "Yes, I believe her words were 'You give me Logan and a phone and a bed and I'll be fine. Logan has a hell of a voice and great imagination.'"

Josef looks up from the papers he is straightening, a grin on his face as well. "Phone sex?"

Mick nods. "Yep. Apparently this would not be the first time they have used this method when separated. My impression is that they are capable of making it work. Considering they aren't too far out of their teenage years and your son has somewhat of a reputation for making woman happy, I'm inclined to believe it can work."

Josef smirks at him but before he can say anything Mick holds up his hand and laughs. "Don't you dare make a bad pun about it being all in the genes."

Josef grins. "You just did it for me. So, you're willing to let them try this and see if it keeps her from going crazy?"

Mick becomes serious "Yes, but Logan has to let her call him, not the other way around, at least in the beginning. He needs to do everything he can to not upset her. If she gets upset, it defeats the purpose and it will have to stop. When you talk to him I think you should leave out the part about the phone sex. I'd rather Veronica lead him in that direction when she's ready. Josef, don't think I don't understand what they're going through. It's awful to be separated from the people you love, but he's got to go slow and easy if this is going to work. You think he would agree to that?"

Josef nods. "Yes, I think he would and it should make it easier for me to get him to hold off on talking about him being turned. Do you think this will be enough to get her back on track?"

"I hope so but I've also told her if it doesn't than we will have this discussion again. Truthfully after talking to her and thinking about this, I'm not so sure I was right about them not having at least phone contact from the beginning. Maybe I should have trusted them more." Mick looks at Josef ruefully "I don't like to think I have control issues, but maybe it was more about my control of the situation than Veronica getting side tracked by talking to Logan." Mick can't help but see the smirk on Josef's face. "You knew that?"

Josef nods. "Yes but I also knew you'd come out of it at some point. It's not part of your basic personality. You were so intent on doing the right things by her I wasn't going to second guess you and have you start second guessing yourself. Mick, you've been a very good sire for her. If you hadn't had that extra degree of control when you're so new to this, it might not have gone as well. Your instincts were probably correct in that they needed to be separated for a while but for you, not for them. They aren't any worse for it. You've learned something from it and it's another reason why this will probably serve you well when it's time to turn Beth. Besides, there isn't room in this family for any more of us with control issues. Veronica and I are enough."

Mick laughs. "Yea."

"I do have a couple of questions. How well is Veronica really doing? I mean emotionally and mentally?"

Mick smiles. "She's almost back to her old ornery personality. She happily does what I tell her and because this is uncharted territory for her, she hasn't fought me on any of it until this blow up over Logan. She took a swing at me a little while ago. I suggested that I could find a vamp that could take care of her problem for her. She was not happy with the idea at all."

Josef's head snaps up when he hears this. "You didn't let her get away with that did you?"

"No. I made sure she understands that it isn't acceptable. She cried a little and apologized. She got it out of her system, for now. The more things slowly get back to normal including her, I'm sure there will be more for us to argue over. She's always had a strong personality. I told Veronica I would see what I could do about her talking to Logan and she agreed to wait another day. Emotionally she's still a little bit all over the place, but not too bad. She cries far more than she ever did before. That's probably the most noticeable difference. Actually I'm really amazed at how well she's come through this."

Josef smiles. "She has a better sire than you did and she was better prepared. Knowing what's coming makes a big difference."

"When are you going to see Logan again?"

"Actually I was going to stop on my way home from the office."

Mick nods. "Let me know what he says."

"I'll talk to you after you get up tomorrow night but I'm sure he's going to be more than happy to agree to the guide lines you've asked for."

Mick looks down at his watch. "Great. Now before it gets any later I'm going upstairs and call Beth." Mick starts to laugh again and smirks at Josef. "Maybe I'll ask her what she's wearing."

Josef laughs glad that Mick and Veronica may have found an answer to this particular problem.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef walks into Logan's apartment unannounced. "Where's Logan?"

Gabriel looks up. "He went out early. He wanted to hit the coffee bar and he had some papers that needed to be printed up. He should be back pretty soon."

Josef nods and turns and faces his father as he sits on the couch. "Why didn't you tell me who you were? Why do business with me all these years and not at least say something?"

Gabriel shrugs and turns to Josef. "Because that's not the deal I made with your Stepfather. I promised him that you would never find out from me that you weren't his son." He walks across the room and sits across from Josef. "If it's any consolation I suspect, in retrospect, I would do things differently than the way I did them when you were born but what's past is past. I would like to think that you and I could be on an even footing from here on out."

Josef nods. "Yes. If for no other reason than for what you've done to help Logan. Before Veronica had to be turned suddenly, he seemed happier, calmer."

"He's still not happy with your decision that he shouldn't be turned."

"Well, I have news that may help with that. Mick surprised me with a suggestion tonight that Logan may like."

Logan enters the door with a packet in his hand. He watches the two vampires. He snorts at the absurdity of having a father and a grandfather that are both vampires and not being allowed to join them. He tosses the packet on the counter.

Josef can still sense the disappointment and anger at being told he had to wait.

Logan comes over and sits at the other end of the couch. He warily eyes Josef. "She's still doing alright?"

Josef nods. "Yes. I told you a while back that Mick has moved her over to human blood. They've also been going out so she can get more and more use to being around humans. She's getting pretty good at it from what I hear from Mick."

Gabriel smiles and nods "That's good to hear. It sounds like Mick is doing a good job of guiding her."

Josef nods. "He really is."

Logan wants to ask if he can see her, or when he can see her, or if he was ever going to be able to see her.

Josef sees all those emotions as they play across Logan's face. "She did have one request. She asked if she could call you and Mick was willing to allow it with certain restrictions."

Logan sits up straight, watching Josef intently. "What kind of restrictions?"

"First, she calls you when she feels like it. You don't call her."

Logan nods for Josef to continue. "You do everything you can to keep it light. You don't talk about meeting up with her and most important you do whatever you have to in order to keep her from being upset. If Mick thinks your upsetting her he will put a stop to it. Logan, just go slow."

Logan nods slowly thinking over what Josef has just told him. "This is the kind of thing you meant when you told me to wait so I could be there for her, isn't it?"

"Yes. If you had been turned you'd be far too emotionally all over the place to do this. One of you is enough. Let her lead the conversation where she wants. _Phone sex_ If I were you I would just talk to her about your day. Tell her things you've been doing. Keep it light at first. You know, Mick realizes how much the two of you mean to each other. He told me that when she says your name he could feel the love she has for you but this still has to be on his terms. She's missing you and it's getting in the way of her progress. He's hoping by talking on the phone with you that she will be able to calm down enough, so she can start drinking from the girls. That's the biggest hurdle. If she can control that then I think he would agree to let you at least see her." Josef holds up his hand as Logan starts to interrupt. "It would have to be supervised until he's sure it's safe for you but at least you could spend time together."

Logan leans forward. "What if she gets upset and it's beyond my control? You said yourself that fledglings are all over the place."

"Mick knows that and he won't have any trouble getting the information from Veronica if that's what happened. Look, you said you wanted to do whatever you could to see her. Well this is about as close as you're likely to get until she's more settled. Take it or leave it."

Logan smiles broadly "Oh, I'll take it."

"Good. Now that, that's settled I have a question for you. What in the hell are you and Gabriel working on?"

Logan laughs. "I'm not sure you're ready to find out. Besides it's not done…don't you want to wait till it's done?"

"No. I want to know now."

Logan looks at Gabriel. "You tell him."

Gabriel shakes his head. "No. It was your idea and your work. You tell him."

Josef watches them knowing they are trying to drive him crazy.

Logan smiles a little warily at Josef. "I'm writing a book. It's a fictional autobiography." Logan and Gabriel laugh at the horrified look on Josef's face. "Yes, it's fiction only because no one will believe it's autobiographical."

Josef eyes them both hopefully. "You're still kidding right?"

Logan shakes his head. "No. I'm about three quarters of the way done."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Josef asks.

Gabriel grins. "Josef, it will be fine. He'll publish under a pen name and when the book hits, which I'm sure it will, the publishing house I have some connections with will put someone else out there to go out and sign books. No one but our people will know it's real or know who wrote it."

Josef feels a bit exposed at the idea. "I'm not sure…. can't you write something else?"

A still grinning Logan continues. "I will. I have several ideas that might pan out into another book or two. Think about it while I go upstairs. I forgot that Veronica would probably like a couple of my T-shirts to lounge around in. She use to sleep in them but with the freezer and all….. I don't want to forget to give them to you to take to her. I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

Josef watches him run upstairs. He turns to Gabriel. "So tell me about the book, about his writing."

Gabriel smiles with pleasure. "Josef, he's got talent and he's good at it and most importantly he really enjoys it. For now, this is what he wants to do. It's what's going to keep him from cracking up but I have to warn you there is restlessness in Logan that I recognize. This won't be the first or last thing he tries in his life. Once he realizes that he can do this it's going to give him the confidence to do a lot of different things."

Josef smiles. "Your telling me he's more like you than me?"

Gabriel shrugs. "I just recognize the feeling."

"He's really three quarts of the way through the book?"

"Yes, and if I were still running a publishing house it would be enough to give him an advance, even though he's never published anything before. He's very good. I got him off the ground and gave him the basics but the story and the writing is all his. You'll be very proud of him when it's published."

Josef smiles. "I am now. Hopefully Mick letting Veronica call him will make him happy enough to stave off the idea of being turned until she gets her feet under her. It's still going to be too soon for me to be his sire though. Sarah is coming along fine but she's just going to need me for longer than he's going to be willing to wait."

Gabriel nods. "Josef when you think it the time is right, let me do it. I'll take good care of him and it might be easier for me to deal with Mick than the two of you risking your friendship."

Josef sighs and leans forward and looks hard at Gabriel. "I have a proposition for you. When the time is right, you turn him, and for as long as he is learning the basics and can't live with Veronica, you live at my place with him in his wing of the house. It's already set up for him. He did live there for a while and he is comfortable there. All that will have to be added is a couple of freezers."

Josef looks at Gabriel expecting him to decline.

Gabriel nods but holds up his hand. "Under one condition. You have to remember whose fledgling he is and if I tell him something you don't agree with, you keep quiet. You and I can discuss it later but you do not countermand anything I tell him in front of him."

Josef thinks about it for a minute. "He's really three quarts of the way done with this book?"

Gabriel smiles and nods

Josef grins. "Alright you and I can walk this tightrope together when the time is right."

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **One more down…..**


	13. Chapter 13

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.**

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Mick sits on the balcony of their room watching the stars. They're taking a much needed break from Veronica's usual routine. She's in the other room listening to music. He thinks about the joke he made with Josef about asking Beth what she's wearing but he knows if he goes down that path he'll walk out the door and keep going until he gets home. He misses her so much. The resolve that held him in check in the beginning when they met at the fountain had long ago shattered. Once he admitted that he loved her and couldn't live without her, he never wanted too.

In the beginning of Veronica's turning he had spent so much time trying to make sure that he was doing the right things for her it had distracted him from missing his life with Beth and Shannon. Now as things are slowly returning to normal his vision keeps swinging towards home. He knows instinctively that being this distracted isn't good for Veronica. No matter how much he tries to conceal it he suspects it's starting to creep into her subconscious. He can't stand the thought of her thinking he regrets her turning. He isn't sure that Josef will understand his decision to take V and leave but for both their sakes they need to go home.

He takes a deep breath and flips out his phone. He wants to talk to Beth so much and tell her his plan, but he can't tell her too much. He doesn't want to get her hopes up to high if he can't make his idea hears the phone ring.

Beth snatches it up, hoping she can get to it before it wakes Shannon. "Hello?"

"Hi, there." He tries to sound light and easy but even he hears the desire burning its way through the phone lines to her.

She hears the huskiness in his voice and smiles. "Hi, yourself." She answers in kind, not bothering to try and hide the desire she has for him.

Mick lets out a low moan. "I miss you so much.I have an idea that I'm working on that could make it easier for us to see each other. We wouldn't be in the same apartment but at least we could spend some time together."

Before he can continue Beth blurts out. "I don't care what it is, just do it."

"I miss you too baby but this would require you to be very careful for the next year or so. Nothing terribly dangerous, but you would have to keep your guard up."

"Mick, I don't care what I have to do if it means I can see you again. I know you. If you thought it was something I couldn't live with, you wouldn't have mentioned it in the first place."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Ok, I have to make some phone calls and arrange a few things and then I'll let you in on all of it. Kiss the baby for me and I'll call you again when I have it all set in place."

"You do that. If you can get back here I'm sure I can make it worth your while." She smiles as she hears him growl as he hangs up the phone.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

As Veronica enters her and Mick's room she sees Mick and Robert moving her freezer through the door into the adjoining bedroom. "Hey, where are you going with my freezer?"

Mick smiles at Robert as they get it situated and turned on. "Thanks Robert. She and I can move the rest of her stuff."

"No problem." Robert tells him as he leaves. "Veronica, nice to see you."

Veronica smiles at Robert. "Nice to see you too."

Veronica turns back to Mick. "What are you doing with my stuff?"

"Well, this room is an adjoining bedroom to the one we've been using. I thought maybe you might like a room of your own. That way you've got some privacy. You can shut the door or not. If you're feeling jumpy I'll be right here in the next room. How's that sound?"

Veronica smiles at him. She looks around the room seeing that it's a close match to the one they have been using. "Does that mean I can call Logan?"

"Yes, it means that before you go to the freezer in the morning you can call Logan. I think the end of the day is a good time. You can feed, get ready for bed and be all relaxed and then call Logan. Does that sound alright?"

Veronica smirks at him. "Yea, I can work with that."

Mick nods. "Good then let's get the rest of your stuff moved. After that, you have something to do that you've been putting off."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef looks up as Mick enters his study. They had arranged this earlier. Mick has decided it is time for Veronica to stop avoiding Josef.

Josef is sitting on the couch away from his desk. He is relaxing, having a drink and reading the paper. He is trying to seem as non-threatening as possible. Mick enters the room and Josef senses right away that Veronica is behind him. Josef pulls back almost every bit of power that emanates from him. He tries to make himself appear to her senses about as powerful as Mick. Josef sees Veronica peeking out from behind Mick.

The absence of power is not lost on Mick who recognizes the change right away. He shakes his head at Josef. "Josef don't do that. She has to get use to how you are normally. Otherwise she's going to get a nasty jolt if you forget."

Josef almost laughs out loud but thinks better of it. What Mick doesn't realize is Josef damps down his power for whatever the situation and whoever is around him. Mick has always only been exposed to what he's comfortable with. If Josef let either of them feel the full extent of his power, they would both be far too intimidated. Josef shrugs and lets them sense what Mick thinks of as normal.

Josef puts down the paper. He smiles at Veronica as he sees a hesitant smile peak out from behind Mick. "V, I'm sorry. You know I would never hurt you. I was just worried about you because you were in such a panic and Mick wasn't waking up to calm you down. If there had been any easier way to wake him up quickly I would have done it."

Veronica stands very close to Mick and watches Josef. "I know. Josef, I know you wouldn't hurt me but…."

Josef holds out his hand. "Come here."

Veronica looks up at Mick. He nods at her. "You need to do this. You and Josef have always been friends. This is no different than the first time you met him in Neptune."

Veronica moves towards Josef and he takes her hand as she forces herself to sit down on the couch. He gently rubs the back of her hand trying to calm her. "Have you called Logan yet?"

Veronica smiles at him. "No. Mick said it would be best to do it at the end of the day. I'm going to feed and then get ready for bed and call him. I hope he doesn't mind since he'll just be getting up."

Josef senses her starting to relax as they talk about Logan. "Ask him what he and Gabriel are working on. You'll be very pleased." Josef watches her eyes light up as all the anxiety disappears.

"Do you know? Can you tell me?" she asks excitedly.

He smiles at her sudden elation. "Yes, he told me but I want him to be able to tell you. It's his surprise. You should hear it from him."

"What time is it?" Veronica grabs Josef's wrist and looks at his watch. "It's 6." She looks up at Mick still holding on to Josef's arm excitedly. "Can I call him soon?"

Mick laughs and nods. "Yes. Why not go upstairs, have a shower and feed and by the time you get done it should be time for you to call him."

Veronica gives both men a quick hug. She waves at them and yells "night" as she runs upstairs.

They watch her go and Mick sits down across from Josef. "That went well."

Josef nods in agreement. "I think she just needed a good memory to replace the bad one. Hopefully she will be alright around me again."

Mick nods.

Josef sees his smile replaced by a serious look he's not sure he likes.

Mick gets up and moves to the bar. As he pours himself and Josef a drink he looks across at Josef. "I've made some decisions for myself and Veronica. I need to tell you my plans."

Josef looks at him wondering what's coming. "Plans? What plans?"

Mick hands Josef his drink and sits back down on the couch. He puts his feet up and looks at Josef. "In two weeks Veronica and I are leaving here."

"Why? Where are you going?" Confusion clearly written across Josef's face as he wonders where Mick could be taking Veronica to live until she's ready to go home.

Mick smiles broadly at him "We're going home."

Mick wants to laugh as he watches Josef hop up and begin to pace. "Are you out of your mind?" Josef growls at him. "You can't go back to the apartment. Even in two weeks she's not going to be anywhere near ready to live with humans. She could hurt Beth, Logan or Shannon and you sure can't leave without her. She's way too young to be apart from you. Mick it's not a good idea at all. Maybe there is a way that they can all come here and live."

Mick waits for Josef to run down. He looks up at him. "You done?"

Josef scowls at him knowing there is much more to come and Mick is just giving him a bad time. "Yes. Spit it out. All of it this time."

"First in relation to Veronica I'm going to teach her to drink direct starting tomorrow. It's time. I think it's going to be fairly easy for her if we stick with females in the beginning. If that goes as well as I suspect, I'll ask Jenny to send over a couple of males for her to try. I don't want her drinking from Logan, not knowing what to expect in the difference she's going to feel when she drinks from a human male."

Josef nods. "Good idea. Once she starts to drink direct, I'm sure she's going to want to taste Logan."

Mick snorts. "Janine didn't help that situation any." With a smirk on his face, Mick tells Josef the advice Janine had given Veronica in the park.

Josef smiles. "She's right."

Mick grins. "Yea, I know it. Anyway this should pave the way for her to be ready for that when it happens. Once she can drink from a human without being supervised she'll have enough control to be allowed to see Logan." Mick looks at Josef. "Agree?"

Josef nods. "Yes, I think that will be fine with supervision at first…"

"Certainly, with supervision in the beginning. They can keep up their phone discussions as a way to keep the edge off. From there we'll have to see if Logan wants to be turned or if they can manage a vampire/human living arrangement." Mick sees Josef narrow his eyes at him. "Josef, it can work. Beth and I are proof of that. It's a way off and Logan may still want to be turned right away so let's cross that bridge when we come to it."

Josef nods and sits across from Mick. "How are you going to keep everyone safe until then?"

"I've talked to Beth about this and she's fine with it. I doubt if Logan is going to have any problems with my idea either. Over the next two weeks I'm going to have some renovations done to the kid's apartment. I'll have a freezer room installed with two freezers and a hidden fridge in the kitchen. It's going to have to be done at some point anyway. Veronica and I will move in there. I'll have the apartment next door set up for Logan and he can move in there. I'm going to have a vamp door like the one on my apartment installed to keep him safe. I need to talk to him and Gabriel though because if Gabriel is going to stick around he's going to have to have a freezer as well. I know that he and Finn have been trading off on mine but that's not a solution. I would actually like it if he and Finn stuck around. It would give me someone to baby sit now and then so I could spend some time alone with Beth."

Josef had continued to pace while he heard Mick out. "You've got this all figured out."

"Yes. Josef, I have to go home. I'm getting distracted and it's not good for Veronica. I know she can feel my focus wavering."

Josef nods reluctantly. "I wondered how long you would be able to stick it out without seeing Beth."

Mick snorts. "Not much longer. Josef I have to get home to her."

"Do you think two weeks is maybe pushing it a little?" Josef doesn't want to upset Mick since clearly he believes he's worked this out but he doesn't want him disappointed if his time line turns out to be too fast.

"No. The workman will start on the kid's apartment in two days. I need to talk to Logan and Gabriel and give Beth and update today. The new freezers can be delivered right away so they are ready to go as soon as the room is ready and the second apartment set up. A lot of this hinges on how well Veronica does with the freshies" Mick holds up his hand as Josef starts to interrupt. "I certainly won't tell her that. I know she doesn't need the extra pressure."

Josef nods. "I think you should go ahead and make accommodations for Gabriel. I'll talk to him about it. I would feel better if he stuck around." Josef glances at Mick. "We haven't told Logan yet but when he's ready, or should I say when Veronica is ready, Gabriel is going to bring Logan here and turn him."

Mick smiles. "Not a bad idea."

Josef looks at Mick a bit worriedly. "Beth knows that she's going to have to be very careful for probably the next year? Once Veronica is on her feet it will start all over again with Logan."

Mick nods. "She'll do whatever she need to get all of us in one place."

"What about your business? You can't have random humans coming upstairs?" Josef asks somewhat worriedly.

Mick shakes his head. "I was going to take some time off anyway. I'll shut the business down for a year if I have to. I'm going to have a lock put on the elevator so you can only get to the top floor with a key and you can only get the doors to open from our floor with a key. It will keep out humans and vamps that don't belong and make sure that Veronica can't go anywhere unsupervised until I give her a key. The elevator guy owes me a favor and he'll be in day after tomorrow."

"Mick, let me pay for the work your having done." Josef knows Mick and Beth's finances and knows they can afford this but he needs to help somehow.

Mick shakes his head. "Josef, I can afford it."

"I know, but…..you shouldn't have to shoulder everything. I can't do anything about most of the rest of it since you and Gabriel are siring them so the least you can do is let me help take care of the financial burden. Hell you're planning on taking a year off from your business. This is the least I can do."

Mick knows that Josef needs to be part of this in any way he can. "I'll right. I'll tell George to send the bills to you."

"I'm glad you got George to do the work."

"Yea, it wasn't hard when I explained the circumstances. He was more than willing to pull a few guys in from a couple of his jobs and get them right on it. And since he is the one who drew up the plans for the renovations we've got planned for later he's already familiar with the layout of the apartments. It should go quickly."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Veronica plops down on the bed. She's going to her freezer after she calls Logan but she's sure not going to be in that uncomfortable thing while she talks to him. She lays on top of the covers and punches up his number on her cell phone.

She hears a groggy "hello" and she smiles in to the phone. "Hey babe."

Logan sits straight up in bed. "Veronica?"

"Who else calls you babe?" She asks with mock anger.

Logan takes a deep breath. Mick and Josef have him so off balance he doesn't know if she's kidding or not.

"Logan? I'm kidding." She tells him somewhat impatiently.

He breathes a sigh of relief. "Sorry. Of course you are. I'm just not awake yet. It's early."

She snickers. "No it's late. You know if you need more sleep I can try again tomorrow. Mick thinks I should call you just before I hit the freezer in the morning maybe it's not such a good idea."

"NO. I'm sorry. I mean no it's fine. When they told me you would call nobody said when or I'd have been awake."

"Logan I miss you so much. I can't wait to see you."

Logan holds his breath again not sure what to say. He's not supposed to encourage the idea of them seeing each other. He hears her let out a small gasp when he doesn't answer her right away. "You don't want to see me. You don't love me anymore. I'm too different."

Logan flops back on the bed staring at the ceiling. "Of course I do. I love you very much. It's killing me not being able to see you."

"No you don't. You didn't answer me when I told you I wanted to see you."

Logan hears her start to cry. "V, please don't cry. Mick won't let me talk to you again if you cry…"

Veronica tries to stop crying but the tears just keep coming.

Logan silently curses Mick. Softly, gently he talks to Veronica. "V, reach down inside and listen to me, you know there is only one woman in this world I love and it's you. Would I have tried to get Josef to turn me the day after you woke up if I didn't want to be with you?"

Veronica smiles through the tears. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's up with me. You know how much I hate to cry."

"You're just a little emotional from being turned. It will be ok. You'll be my tough as nails girlfriend again soon."

Veronica nods into the phone. "You're probably right. Logan what did you mean Mick wouldn't let you talk to me if I get upset and while you're at it explain why you didn't answer me when I said I couldn't wait to see you? What's going on with you?"

Veronica hears him sigh through the phone. "I….Mick…I…." He looks at his watch; well it's taken all of five minutes for him to get stuck in a situation where he can piss her off by telling her or he can hear her cry because he doesn't know what to tell her. He flips a coin in his head and decides he's rather have her mad than hurt any day. "V, Mick told Josef that if I upset you he won't let me talk to you anymore. He also said that I'm not supposed to talk to you about us getting together so when you said that I didn't answer right away, that's why, but believe me, I love you with all my heart I wouldn't know what to do if I lost you. The last thing I want to do is push you into his arms….I can't lose you."

He waits for her reaction. When he doesn't hear anything he worries. "You aren't too mad are you? Please don't be mad at me. You know, I'll understand if you feel the need to sleep with Mick or someone else but…whatever you need….I love you so much."

"Oh, I'm pissed alright but not at you. Logan, go take a shower and get dressed. Have something to eat. I'll call you back. I have to go have a word with my sire and his coconspirator."

He starts to tell her to stop but he realizes the connection is dead. He hopes like hell he did the right thing.

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Another one done…..**


	14. Chapter 14

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.**

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sarah enters the room and looks at the two men sitting across from each other. "I just saw Veronica a bit ago. She was going upstairs. She sure looked happy."

Josef holds out his arm to her. "Yes, she's very happy and she's gotten over her fear of me. Things are going well."

Sarah moves over and snuggles up next to Josef and smiles. "So what are you two talking about?"

Josef gives her a quick kiss. "I was just telling Mick about the book Logan and Gabriel are working on."

Sarah looks at Mick and the two of them break out laughing.

Josef looks at them both sheepishly. "It just goes against my natural paranoia to have that much information out there, even if no one will know where it came from or who it's about."

They sense Veronica's furry long before she makes it to the door of Josef's study. Sarah looks at Josef a little worriedly. "She's really mad."

Josef smiles reassuringly at Sarah. "Yes she is. Why don't you go see the girls and let us take care of this?"

"Will it be ok?"

Josef kisses her softly and then smiles. "We'll just sit on her if we have to until she calms down." Sarah gives him a surprised look. "Sarah, I'm kidding. She's just young and frustrated. It will be fine."

Sarah nods and moves to the door. She gives Josef one last smile and moves in the opposite direction she feels the anger flowing from.

Both men stand up waiting for her. Josef leans back against his desk arms crossed. Mick stands in the middle of the room braced for whatever confrontation is coming.

Josef is interested to see how Mick is going to handle Veronica's anger. Hell, he's interested to see how she's going to handles her anger.

Mick shakes his head. "I can't even imagine what could make her this mad. She was so happy when she went to her room. I hope her control isn't slipping."

Josef nods in agreement. "I just hope she's mad at you and not me."

Veronica comes flying through the door. The first thing Mick notices is that she's not vamped out. Her fangs aren't even showing a little and her eyes haven't turned. He also notices she stops on a dime when she sees him. She's using her abilities and even in obvious anger her control is in place.

"You lousy manipulating son of a bitch." She growls at Mick.

"Me?" Mick asks completely taken by surprise at her accusation.

"Mick?" Josef asks wondering what the hell happened. He knows Mick isn't sneaky enough to be manipulative.

Mick starts to wonder if he's going to have to discipline her again when he hears her go after Josef as well.

"Yes, and you too. I'm sure you had a hand in this." She says pointing at Josef.

"Me?" Josef asks

"Josef?" Mick echoes

Veronica narrows her eyes and looks from one to the other. "This isn't a comedy routine." She remembers what Mick said about respecting him and she tries to soften her tone and bring her anger down a notch. She takes a deep breath and tries to stay calm "Look, I know you're my sire and you feel responsible for me. I know you want what you think is best for me, but please stay out of my relationship with Logan."

Mick realizes this has something to do with Logan and his protective instincts kick in. "Did he upset you? What did he say? Did he hurt you?"

She feels his anger radiate out at her and instead of cowering her it gives her anger new life. Veronica closes the distance between them quickly and stands toe to toe with Mick. "He didn't upset me. You did. Don't you ever tell him what he can and can't say to me."

Mick snarls at her. "I don't want you talking to him again. You are my fledgling and you will do as I say or there will be hell to pay."

Veronica's anger boils over. "To hell with you. You may be my sire but this time you're wrong and it's hurting me." Veronica snarls back.

Josef begins to think he should intervene but he sees that her last comment has pulled Mick up short. Josef watches as Mick forcibly pulls his anger back. He points to the couch. "Sit. I want you to feed. I'll get you a glass and we'll talk this over."

Veronica nods but she's not quite done yet. She turns to Josef. "And you, why would you tell Logan such an awful thing? That's absolutely disgusting."

Josef goes back to his chair and sits down. He shrugs not having any idea what he could possibly have told Logan that is so awful.

Mick moves back to the couch with her drink and hands it over to her. He sits at the other end of the couch and glares at her. "I'm willing to talk this over with you but there are some things that are not up for debate. You still can't see him."

Veronica waves at him dismissively. "I know that. You think I want to take a chance on hurting him?"

Mick continues, "As long as that's understood. Now explain how I'm hurting you."

Veronica is still mad. She curtly nods at him. "When I left you two I went upstairs to call Logan."

Mick nods. "Yes. So how does allowing you to talk to Logan make me the bad guy? I thought that's what you wanted."

"It is, but you've got him walking on eggshells. He's afraid to say two words to me for fear of upsetting me and having you put a stop to me calling him. Not only that but I thought for a minute that he didn't love me anymore because when I told him I couldn't wait to see him he didn't know what to say because someone told him he couldn't talk about that either." She tries to keep the snarl out of her voice.

"I just don't want you upset and overextended." He growls at her.

Veronica shakes her head at him. "Look, you have to understand something. If I don't get pissed at Logan every so often then something is wrong. Shit happens, and with us more often than not. It's just the way it is."

Mick eyes her speculative. He knows Veronica well enough to know that negotiating with her is going to get a lot farther than the two of them continuing to butt heads. He knows how much having control means to her. "All right, I'll make you a deal. As long as you don't get erratic or start acting in a way that hurts your progress, I'll stay out of your relationship with Logan but under no circumstances do you see him until I say it's alright."

Veronica smiles at him. "Thank you." She then turns her attention to Josef. "Somebody told Logan I might sleep with Mick. Now I'm sure it wasn't Mick so it had to have been you. Why would you do such a thing? That's disgusting!"

"You said that." Mick says somewhat sourly. He doesn't want to sleep with her either but hearing her say the idea is disgusting hurts his pride a little bit.

She laughs softly at him when she senses the sting he's feeling. "You're like my uncle or my dad or something. It would be like incest."

Mick smiles. "Actually that's pretty much the way I think of you too, family."

Veronica keeps staring at Josef "Well?"

Josef shrugs. "Apparently I under estimated your attitudes about sex. Every fledgling I've ever been around gets hit with hormones sooner or later and since you can't sleep with Logan, I just wanted him to be prepared in case you went after Mick or anyone else."

Veronica shakes her head.

Something occurs to Mick. "Josef how many women have you turned that you haven't been sleeping with already?"

Josef pretends to think about it for a moment. "Exactly none. It's sort of the point."

"Well, maybe it's only that way in your experience because you've already been sleeping with your fledglings. It's the same with Coraline and me. Maybe it's not always like that."

Josef shrugs. "Maybe…I was like that when Vanessa turned me and I wasn't sleeping with her" He smiles at the memory "She found several suitable playmates for me."

Mick starts to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Josef asks him.

"You were the twenty-five year old son of a rich nobleman. My guess is you were like that before you were turned."

Josef smirks at him. "You have a point. I'm sure of course that prior to Coraline you were a saint…oh wait, I remember seeing you a couple of times at her parties before she got her hooks in you and as I recall, you were trying to work your way through the alphabet, one woman at a time."

Veronica looks at the two of them. "You know, maybe it's not so much what you are like after you are turned that makes you screw anything that will stand still but more about what you were like before you were turned and maybe the relationship you have to your sire."

Josef smirks at her. "I will admit that you have a sire that has more control than any vampire I've ever known. You know how long he went without drinking from a live human and how long it took him to finally get Beth…."

Mick interrupts. "That's enough Josef." He says with a quiet snarl. "Not in front of the fledgling."

Josef shrugs. "The problem with that theory is that although I was sleeping with Sarah before I turned her, believe me she was not promiscuous and now she is just as I expected. Very happy to spend days, weeks…."

Veronica interrupts this time. "That's enough Josef." _To much information._ "The thing is, Sarah loves you. Of course she's going to want you all the time. I want Logan all the time too but I know that I could hurt him but that doesn't mean that I have to jump in bed with the first available vampire. There are always alternatives."

Josef nods at her. "I have to admit when Mick told me about the phone sex, it surprised me. It isn't something that would have ever occurred to me."

Veronica snorts. "No kidding. I have another question. When was the last time either of you guys turned someone born in the last twenty years? You know we have a different attitude about a lot of things now. Maybe it's different because we're different. Hell anyone born in the last twenty years has had safe sex ingrained in them or should have. We're more open to alternative methods at times. Look at you two, neither of you practice safe sex. You both have children that were a surprise."

Mick and Josef look at each other and just laugh.

Josef shakes head. "Sarah is my last and she was born about the same time as Mick." Josef starts to laugh again. "As for children, you have to admit that we didn't get the same accurate information about sex that you did. No one told us about vampires having babies."

Something occurs to Veronica. "Not to get this conversation off track but I have a question about that. Do all the babies you know about; have a vampire for a father and a human mother? Is it ever the other way around?"

Before Josef can make a smart ass comment about grandchildren. Mick cuts him off with a glare. He smiles at Veronica. "I think it's best if you call Vanessa about that. She seems to know more about this than either of us."

Veronica nods in agreement.

Mick smiles. "Now as for turning anyone in the last twenty years. I've only turned one small wicked blond and I have one more to go."

Veronica laughs. "I'm going to assure you of two things. First thing is this wicked blond doesn't need sex from either of you or anyone but Logan."

Mick smiles at her "What's the second thing?"

Veronica looks at him with a twinkle in her eye "You'll have a lot more fun with the second blond. Now I'm going back upstairs and call Logan."

She stands up and walks over to Mick. She leans down and kisses him on the cheek. "Thank you for caring enough to listen to me. Just remember this when my baby sister gets to be a teenager and you turn Beth."

He snorts and rolls his eyes. "We can only hope."

They watch her leave and Mick turns to Josef. "Did you notice anything about her tirade?"

Josef nods. "The same thing you did. So far she's got more control than I would have guessed was possible. It will be interesting to see if she has that same degree of control when she begins to feed, and again when she sees Logan."

"Josef, my bet is she will and I'm thinking she's going to be ready for Logan to be turned quicker than any of us thought."

Josef nods. "I think you might be right."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Logan snaps up the phone on the first ring. "Hey babe."

Veronica smiles. "That's more like it. Did you get dressed and have something to eat?"

"No. I grabbed a cup of coffee and came back up to bed. I was afraid if I was in the shower I wouldn't hear the phone ring."

Veronica snickers into the phone. "So, what are you wearing?"

Logan stops dead not sure where this should go…

Veronica senses his hesitation. "Logan it's ok. I had a chat with Mick and Josef. I told Mick sometimes I get pissed or upset but that's the way it is. He agreed to stay out of it as long as I don't start getting crazy, so we can talk about anything we want. As for my sleeping with Mick….Logan that never occurred to me. You're the only one I want in my bed." She can almost feel Logan relax through the phone lines. "Oh Oh Oh, with all this craziness I forgot to ask about what you and Gabriel are working on. Josef said you told him."

"hhhmmmm…well, I'd rather talk about what I'm wearing or not wearing or better yet, what you're wearing or not wearing."

She sighs with relief. She can tell he's teasing her and it feels so good. "If you're good and you tell me the big secret is, maybe we can talk about what I'm not wearing."

She hears him moan into the phone. "God I've missed you. If I have to, I can live with being apart as long as we can talk. I've missed you so much and you're right. I can't wait to see you again."

She nods. "Yea, feel good, doesn't it? Now tell me what you're working on. Come on, this has been driving me nuts for months."

"It's better if I tell you about telling Josef what I'm working on because he really freaked out." Logan proceeds to tell her about Josef's reaction to the news that he is writing a book.

Logan smiles as he hears her laughing at his story. It's such a wonderful sound.

"Oh Logan, I wish I could have seen his face. It must have been priceless. When can I read it?"

"When it's done and not a minute before." Logan smiles to himself. "Ok, so what are you wearing?"

Veronica breathes softly into the phone. "I'm here on my bed and I'm not wearing one damn thing. Logan, close your eyes and tell me what you want to do to me. Baby, I love it when you do that. You have such a sexy voice."

Unconsciously his voice drops and he begins. "Your wish is my command my lady."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Veronica looks at the arm in front of her. She smiles up at Emily. "Thank you for doing this with me."

Emily smiles. "Believe me it's my pleasure. Josef ok'd this as a special occasion. Since he stopped feeding from me almost a year ago so I could stay here and watch over the girls, he said I could be the one to start you out. Once you feel more confident you can feed from the other girls."

Veronica hears the wistfulness in Emily's voice. "You miss it, don't you?"

Emily lets out a soft sigh. "Yes, but better to not feed Josef and get to stay than be banished all together. Most of the time it's not so bad. In the beginning it was really hard. The farther away I get from it the less it bothers me."

Veronica shakes her head. "Then this is probably a bad idea. I don't want to get you back to the beginning where it bothered you the most."

Emily gives Veronica a small smile. "This won't do that. You don't know this yet but the difference in doing this with a woman and a man is startling." Emily pats Veronica's hand. "Believe me I won't get the same feelings, the same rush from you that I miss so much from Josef. You wait until you taste Logan, you'll see what I mean."

Veronica grins at her. "You're sure?"

Emily laughs softly. "Yea, no problem. I want to do this for you because I like you and because I really do like the act itself."

Mick watches the two women from a few feet away. When they got up this evening he had immediately noticed the calm radiating from Veronica. He smiles to himself. It seems she was right and talking to Logan was just what she needed. Once they got up and fed he sat her down and they had a talk about feeding from a human. He explained the technique. He told her to concentrate on the heartbeat and other life signs of whoever she is feeding from and it will give her something to zero in on so she doesn't get lost in the sensations and take too much blood. He said after a while she will learn to do this unconsciously and enjoy feeding even more.

He asked Emily last week if she would give Veronica her first taste of fresh blood from the source. He knows that Emily won't panic or freak out. He doesn't know any of the other girls as well. He wants to make sure nothing happens that makes Veronica fear her nature. Emily was more than happy to help as long as Josef gave his say so, which he did. Mick watches them chat for a bit while Veronica finds a comfort zone. He wants to go over and give her some encouragement but he thinks twice about it. He is afraid she will feel rushed and that was the last thing she needs.

Veronica runs her thumb over the vein in Emily's forearm. She looks up at Emily. "Ready?"

Emily smiles and nods "Yes. Remember once you start to sink you fangs in don't stop. Hesitation hurts more than if you just go for it."

Veronica nods and sinks her fangs into Emily's arm. She lets out a small moan when the warm, rich blood floods into her mouth. The emotions in the blood hit her next and she understands what Mick was telling her about not getting lost in the sensations and hurting the freshie. The blood from Emily tastes amazing. Nothing Veronica has tasted compares to this. Now she really can't wait to taste Logan. She wonders how much different that will be.

Veronica stops after just a couple minutes. She gently licks the wounds and watches them seal. She cleans up the last of the blood on Emily's arm and looks up at her.

"You didn't have to stop. You hardly took any." Emily tells her softly.

Veronica nods. "Yea, but I'd like to do this again tomorrow and if I take a lot today, I won't be able to. Can we do it again tomorrow?" Veronica looks over her shoulder at Mick.

He smiles proudly at her and nods his head. "If it's alright with Emily and if she feels up to it. You did very well. I didn't feel your concentration waver at all."

Veronica smiles at his approval. "I did what you said to do. I concentrated on Emily and it kept me in check." Veronica turns back to Emily. "Thank you."

Emily smiles warmly at her. "Any time."

Veronica stands up and crosses the room to Mick. "Pretty good huh?"

"Yes, very good. You showed very good control. Now I have a surprise for you."

"Really? What?"

"We're moving home in a couple of weeks." He waits for the joy he expects at his announcement and when she appears less than thrilled he pats the seat next him. "Alright tell me what the problem is. I thought you'd be happy at the prospect of moving back to the apartment." He nudges her. "Come on, tell me what you're thinking."

Veronica sits down but doesn't really look at him. "I don't want to live by myself."

"And you won't. I wouldn't leave you alone. You're still too new." Mick says with a smile.

She looks at him puzzled. "I can't live with Beth and Shannon or Logan so where are we going to live?"

Mick tells her about the renovations that are going to be completed over the next two weeks.

"Are you going to have time for me with Beth and Shannon living next door?"

He looks into her eyes. He wants to make sure she believes what he's telling her. "Always. Never doubt that. If you need something you just tell me."

He watches as the tension leaves her shoulders. "So now let's try again. Hey, in a couple of weeks we're moving home."

Veronica gives him a genuine smile. "Sounds great to me. Can't wait."

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **One more done….**


	15. Chapter 15

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover**

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Jenny looks down at her cell phone to see who is calling her in the middle of her busiest time of night. She smiles when she sees its Mick.

"Hey, St. John. How are you?" She watches the room for trouble.

They get through the pleasantries and Mick gets to the point. "Jenny, I need to hire a couple of your people."

"Really? What do you need?" Her curiosity is more than a little peaked since Mick hardly ever shows his face in the club anymore. She knows he's got a permanent attachment to a human.

"I have a fledgling." He begins.

Jenny's mouth practically drops open in surprise. "You have a fledgling?"

He snorts into the phone. "Yes, Jen. Look it's a long story. Let's just say she's a family friend and it was an emergency."

"All right. So, what can I do for you?" _I need to call Josef and get the whole story on this one._

"She's been feeding from Josef's girls but I need a couple of males for her to feed from. She has a human lover she needs to be prepared for and she obviously needs to learn some control before she gets to him. I'll make sure she doesn't hurt your guys but they really need to be experienced."

Jenny nods. "Do you know what she might prefer in the way of looks?"

Mick sighs. "I wish I knew. As it is, I'm sure I'm going to have to talk her into this. I'll I can tell you is Logan, her human, is blond."

"Logan, Josef's son? Is this Veronica? I met her. She spent some time with us before we snuck her into Josef's, before his last party." As she talks to Mick Jenny looks across to see who's at the bar. She scowls at Scott one of her newer freshies. She's got a feeling he's up to no good.

"That's right. I'd forgotten that. Yea, Veronica." Mick tells her.

"Mick, I can send you a mix, but I have a good idea I know what she's going to want. How's that?"

Mick shrugs. "That's probably best. I'll need them to feed her a few times over the course of several days. She doesn't need to feed heavily. Just enough to work on her control."

"When do you want them? Is she ready now?"

"Can I call you? It will probably be tomorrow or the next day."

"No problem. Hey, Mick you know, I hate to ask you this but I could use a favor…."

"I'm kind of tied up right now with Veronica but if it's something I can do; I'd be happy to help you. You know that."

Jenny smiles into the phone and tells Mick what she needs.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Logan, Gabriel and Finn stand in the middle of the new apartment looking over the arrangement of the furniture. They have spent the evening getting it ready for Gabriel and Logan to move in to. The workmen are scheduled to begin work on the new freezer room tomorrow and they wanted to be out of their way. Logan shakes his head. "You know; I don't really need this much stuff. I'm not going to be over here that long."

Gabriel frowns at him. "Logan we talked about this. Don't get your hopes up that she's going to be ready to live with you any time soon. Besides, we might as well be comfortable since we had to move anyway." 

Logan nods. "I just think it's not going to be as tough as you think for me to be safe around her."

Finn and Gabriel glance each other. Both men hope Logan isn't setting himself up for major disappointment.

Beth sticks her head in the open doorway of the apartment. I'm going down to let the freezer delivery guy in. Keep those vamp ears tuned for Shannon. She's asleep in her playpen downstairs. I'll leave our apartment door open."

Logan looks at Beth. "I'll check on her in a minute. We're done here and these two are sucking all the joy out of my life."

Beth scowls at the vampires wondering what they've said to Logan. "Thanks Logan. I'll be back in a few minutes. I don't know how many trips it's going to take to get them up and down the elevator."

Beth puts her key in the lock on the elevator and watches as it lights up. She gets in and goes down to the parking level. The elevator opens and there are three freezers stacked up and a tall muscular vampire standing next to them. "You ready to move those upstairs?" He watches her closely. He is surprised that a human female is meeting him.

"All ready but I need to look in the elevator." He looks around and then looks at Beth. "It's too small for more than one freezer at a time so I'll have to do this in stages." He easily picks up the first freezer and moves it into the elevator. Beth turns her back on him to get into the elevator and he takes a deep whiff of her trying to decide if she belongs to anyone. He decides she doesn't since he detects only the faint smell of a couple of vampires.

The elevator begins to move and she looks up into his face and sees his fangs showing. He pulls the stop button on the elevator and looks down at her.

"You're so beautiful. How about a taste? I won't take much." He says to her with a grin on his face, his fangs fully extended.

Beth looks at him like he's a complete idiot. "You are so screwed." She tells him and begins to scream as loud as she can.

For an instant two things register at once, she's not freighted in the least but she's screaming like a banshee in a very enclosed area. The vamp clamps his hands over his ears for a moment.

Gabriel and Finn hear the scream at the same time and know it's coming from Beth. They look at each other and before Logan can ask what's wrong they are gone. Logan moves quickly across the hall to make sure Shannon is all right. He grabs a stake out of Mick's weapons chest just in case. Gabriel and Finn reach the elevator and in one quick move Gabriel has the doors open. They look down and see the elevator stopped several floors down. Finn looks at Gabriel. "I'll let you know if I need help."

Gabriel nods. Finn let's his vampire loose and hops into the shaft and lands as lightly as he can on the top of the elevator. He rips the top off the emergency exit. He looks inside and lets out a snarl. He sees Beth backed up against the wall by a vampire. Finn reaches in and grabs the vampire by the back of the neck and takes one leap back up the shaft and lands between the open doors.

Logan walks out in the hall with a stake in his hand, just as Finn jumps back up the elevator shaft with the other vamp in one hand. Logan shakes his head. Their abilities never cease to amaze him.

Finn looks at Gabriel. "Hold this piece of shit for me."

Gabriel nods and takes the vampire by the neck and holds him off the ground.

Finn turns to the shaft and calls down to Beth. "Are you all right?"

Beth doesn't feel like yelling back up so she pushes the stop button in and the elevator begins to move again. Once she reaches the top she smiles at Finn. "Yes, I fine. Thank you." She turns to Gabriel and the still struggling vampire. "I told you, you were screwed."

Finn walks over to Logan. He holds out his hand and Logan hands him the stake.

Beth turns back to Finn. "You think we should tell Josef about this?"

"Josef?" The vampire manages to squeak out.

Beth nods. "Yes, Josef Kostan. You may have heard of him."

"L..L..Lady I wasn't going to hurt you. I just wanted a sip. I thought you were a freshie."

Beth scrunches her nose at him. "Why would you think I'm a freshie?"

"You don't smell like one lone vamp. I got a mix of scents. I didn't know you belonged to anyone. I thought you were freelance." He looks at Gabriel. "Come on man, let me go."

Before he can continue Finn plunges the wooden stake into his chest. He goes limp and Gabriel lays him on the floor. Gabriel and Finn look down at him like a bug.

Beth turns to Gabriel and Finn. "So, what do you think? You know if we turn him over to Josef and Mick they won't even hesitate to kill him."

Finn nods. "As it should be. I agree with them on this. It's the only way you stay safe. I don't want to think of what would have happened if we had not been here. Also, he was stupid and careless. Stupidity like this endangers us all."

"Yea, but you know, in a way it's not really all his fault. He's right about one thing, Mick hasn't been home in so long that I probably don't smell like I belong to anyone." Beth eyes the two vampires in front of her. "And weather I like it or not I know how it is with vampires. Anyone not claimed is fair game."

Gently Finn looks at Beth. "I know your inclination is to spare this worthless shit but remember it's not just you that needs protecting. Shannon and Logan live here as well and as I said he's an idiot and a danger to the community."

Gabriel looks down at the staked vamp. "All brawn and no brains."

Beth agrees reluctantly. "I guess you're right. If it were just me….." Beth flips out her phone and listens to it ring. "Josef?"

Josef answers "Beth?"

Beth tells Josef what's happened. "I would have called Mick but you know he can't leave and…I'm not sure I want to tell him this over the phone."

Josef nods. "But you're alright? I can tell him you're fine?"

"Yes. He never got a chance to lay a fang on me."

Josef takes a deep breath. "I'll tell Mick. He's not going to take it well. Let me talk to either Gabriel or Finn."

"Josef, one more thing before I give the phone up. I don't think you should kill him. I'm quite sure that you can make sure he gets the message without killing him." Beth glances at Finn and Gabriel and they are both scowling at her.

"Beth…..I'll think about it. I don't like things like this to go unpunished. It puts you all in danger if no one thinks there are consequences. Also, what if he does this regularly to woman without regard to how much danger he puts the rest of us in? Approaching strangers in semipublic areas like the building elevator is stupid."

"I'm not saying unpunished; I'm saying leave him alive." She tells him again.

"We'll see. Mick may not go a long with it but I'll tell him what you said. Now let me talk to Finn or Gabriel."

Beth hands the phone to Finn and stands in the doorway of the apartment watching the two old vampires.

Finn listens to Josef. "Got it." He hangs up.

Finn motions to Gabriel to follow him. "We need to meet Victoria in the garage. She will take it from here."

Gabriel turns to Logan standing in the hallway. "Logan please stay with Beth until we get back." Logan nods and watches as they move the freezer out of the elevator and get in with the unconscious vamp slung over Gabriel's shoulder.

The pair gets to the garage level and wait in the shadows for Victoria to arrive. Luckily there is little traffic through the building at this time of night.

Victoria pulls in and backs the van up and comes around without a word. She opens the back doors and Gabriel tosses the vamp in. The doors slam behind him. She crosses to Gabriel and kisses him hard. "Heard you were in town." She says when they break the kiss.

Gabriel smiles at her. "Nice to see you again." He growls softly at her.

Victoria peaks around Gabriel and sees Finn leaning against the wall waiting. "Hey Finn."

"Hey Vick. I'm going back upstairs. I don't want the kids to be alone for long." He turns and heads for the elevator.

"I'll be up in a minute." Gabriel says over his shoulder as he looks down at Victoria.

"Yea, sure." Finn says with a smile as the elevator doors close.

Josef hears Mick and Veronica enter the study. Mick looks at Josef and knows right away that something has happened. "Just tell me everyone is all right."

Josef nods. "Yes, Beth and Shannon are fine." He sees Veronica frown. "Logan too. Everyone is fine but I need to tell you what happened and I need you to stay calm." He knows how hard it is for Mick to stay away from Beth this long without danger being added to the equation.

"Tell me." Mick growls.

Josef relates Beth's phone call and watches Mick clamps his jaw. He can tell Mick is trying to keep his anger in check but he's not having much luck. Josef glances at Veronica and almost in unison he hears a low growl from both of them. Josef smiles to himself. Apparently she's just as upset about anyone violating the home front as he is. "What did they do with him?" Mick asks

"Finn and Gabriel are going to meet Victoria in the garage and she's going to take possession of him. I will tell you, that Beth requested he be left alive."

Mick narrows his eyes at Josef. "My first instinct is to say no. Did she say why?"

"He apparently told her he couldn't tell that she belongs to anyone because he couldn't smell one lone vampire on her. He thought she was a freelance freshie. She seems to think it's not entirely his fault."

Mick sighs. "I hate it when she has a point."

Josef shakes his head. "You're don't seriously think he should be left to live? He approached an unknown human in a semipublic place. Beth aside this could have turned out really bad for all of us. Your instincts are a lot better gauge on this than your human. Beth doesn't have to know what happened to him."

Mick shrugs. "I'm not going to lie to her. Josef you know how she is about vampire justice. Ever since Emma and Jackson…Look, just tell Victoria to make sure he understands how lucky he is and that he'd better get the hell out of town or I will kill him. I can't very well do much about it right now anyway."

Josef nods reluctantly. "I don't like it."

Veronica scowls at Mick. "You can leave without me if you have to."

Mick shakes his head "Not yet. I wouldn't feel good about leaving you unless there were no other options."

Veronica sighs. "Two weeks and we'll be back home."

He nods. "I'm going to go call Beth."

Veronica glances at Mick. "I'll stay down here. I want to talk to Josef about something anyway."

"You sure?"

"Yea. We're good again. I just needed a reminder of what a general pain in the butt he is."

"And don't you forget it." Josef smirks at her.

They watch Mick leave and when Veronica senses that he's out of earshot she smiles at Josef. "I have an idea. Something you are going to help me with."

Josef looks at her speculatively. "And why would I do that?"

"Because we both owe Mick big time and it's the least we can do for him."

Josef nods. "You're right. I'm in. What's the plan?"

Victoria gently moves back from Gabriel. "Give me a minute here. I have to call Josef." She nips at Gabriel's jaw. "Business first."

Josef looks down as his phone rings. He sees its Victoria. "Hold on. I have to answer this." He tells Veronica.

"Josef?"

"Yes."

Victoria hears something odd in his voice. "Can you talk?" She glances at Gabriel and sees him watching her closely.

"Not at the moment." Josef answers

"Just tell me this. Do you want this guy dropped in a hole, never to be seen again?"

"Yes."

"And let me guess…. you don't want Mick to know."

"You're very perceptive. Call again soon." Josef clicks the phone shut and turns back to Veronica. "Now where were we?"

Victoria turns to look at Gabriel. He can tell from her end of the call and her expression what was said. She starts to tell him and he smiles and holds up his hand. "Please just do as you were asked and leave it at that. I can't lie about what I don't know about."

Victoria smiles. She kisses him again. "This is good-bye then." She kisses him softly one last time. "Call me." Gabriel smiles as he watches her drive off into the night.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jenny enters the room and looks down at the dazed freshie. Jack has worked for her for several years and he is still in high demand. He has dark rugged good looks matched with blue eyes that you can get lost in. He takes very good care of himself. He isn't particularly vein but he knows what vamps like and he tries to give it to them. His blood is as pure as is possible. No caffeine, no alcohol, no drugs, lots of exercise and good food. She can't remember the last time he was sick. He started working for her when he was eighteen and just out of high school. He was an occasional at first, but it didn't take long for her to recognize talent and she signed him as an exclusive to the club not long after that and he is twenty-five now. She knows that she's going to have to let him go one of these days and she's already made up her mind to offer to turn him if it's what he wants. He is one of her best people and better yet she knows she can trust him. Not something she does very often with vamps or humans. He looks up at her as the fog of feeding his last vamp subsides. He stars to sit up straight when he sees that it is Jenny standing over him. She puts a gentle restraining hand on his arm and sits down next to him. "Don't bother Jack. You're fine."

He smiles gratefully at her and lays back against the couch. "Jack, you're off the schedule for the next week, maybe two."

Now he does immediately sit up straight. "Jen?"

Jenny smiles at him. "I have a special assignment for you and Connor. Mick St. John called tonight. He has a fledgling and he needs her to start feeding from a male. They are both living out at Mr. Kostan's. I want you and Connor and Scott to be ready to go out there when Mick calls. He'll send a car."

Jack looks at her puzzled. "Jenny, you know I would never question your orders but are you sure…you want Scott to go with us? If we need three wouldn't Drake be better?"

Jenny sighs. "Jack, you don't like Scott do you?"

Jack shrugs. "I don't trust him. There is something that…..I'm not sure what it is but, I have a bad feeling about him."

Jenny nods. "Yes, I do too. When he first started here I thought the reason he kept his emotions in such close check was that he was new. Now I think it's because he's hiding something. I need to know what that is. I could get the information the easy way but then I might not know the extent of his treachery if that is what this is about. You understand, I need to know exactly what he's into."

Jack nods. "Except that he doesn't really have the experience for this particular job. Fledglings take just the right balance."

Jenny gives him a knowing smile. "It won't be a problem. She's not going to pick Scott."

Jack shrugs and smiles. "If you say so. You know vamps better than I do."

Jenny laughs. "It's not the vamp I know better it's the woman. In this case she's going to go for dark hair and dark complexion. You and Connor are perfect. She'll save the good looking beach boy look for when she gets back to her human lover. Scott would be too much of a reminder of what she really wants and can't have until she conquers her control."

Jack laughs. "Ah, it's like that. So, you want me to keep an eye on Scott is that it?"

She nods. "Yes, just keep some mental notes about anything he does that seems odd or out of place. I'll give the same heads up to Connor. I've discussed this with Mick and he'll make sure he doesn't get into any mischief at Josef's. I've watched Scott pretty close around here and I haven't been able to see him doing anything out of line. I want him out and away from here to see if he might get careless. He might let his guard down and say something to one of you."

"So, when did you say this would be?"

"Mick said she should be ready for you in the next day or so. She's been feeding from Josef's girls but now he needs her to switch to males. Mick will most likely want you and Connor to feed her lightly several times over the next few days."

"I'll be ready. If I'm off the schedule, then I think I'll go up to my room and have something to eat and get some sleep."

She pats his leg. "Sounds good. I'll call you when I hear something from Mick."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Done…..


	16. Chapter 16

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Scott looks all around him as the three young men follow Mick down the hall to meet Veronica. He doesn't know what he's looking for but he knows he will, when he sees it. If he can find just the right information, he will be able to sell it to his contact for more than his usual monthly fee. If it is big enough, maybe he'll get an extra finder's fee or a bonus. He's been selling the man information on the vampires that feed from him practically from the beginning when he was just a freelance freshie in the public vampire clubs. At the start he was very nervous that one of them would find out what he was doing and kill him but as time went on he saw that their arrogance didn't allow them to believe he could be any kind of danger to them. Most vampires see humans as nothing but a food source so they don't worry about talking in front of him. He's passed on all kinds of information over the last couple of years. He never knew if his information was helpful or not he just got paid month in and month out and all he had to do was to call a number if he heard something interesting. When he calls the number it triggers an answering machine that records whatever he has to report. A couple of times he received a text message that more information was needed and he would meet the man in an alley and retell his information with the man trying to see if he knew more than he thought he did.

Three months ago he had started to work for Jenny and he noticed a jump in the amount that he was paid every month. Unfortunately, he learned quickly that the vampires that frequented her club are very different. They tend to be older and smarter. The vamps he feeds now are as a rule more secretive and much more careful. He supposes that is why they had managed to live longer. So far he hasn't had anything to report. He hopes in time the vamps will become more use to him and become complacent enough to let things slip.

He wonders some times what they are doing with the information, but truth be told he doesn't really care. The vampires are nothing to him. Just a means to an end. He made pretty good money and doesn't really have to do much but keep his blood clean. Now he has a shot at some really good information. If he can find anything useful it will be here in Josef Kostan's home. He just has to keep his eyes and ears open for any little scraps he might find.

Whoever this fledgling is, she must be pretty important to Kostan and St. John if she is living in this house. If she picks him to feed from maybe she will be unstable enough that he can get some information from her.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Mick finds Veronica at the desk in the library, three male humans, trailing behind him. He stops in front of her and she glances up at him from her laptop. "What? I'm in the middle of emailing Logan."

Mick lets out a growl. She looks up at him and rolls her eyes. She saves the email and shuts her laptop. Veronica folds her hands together and smiles sweetly up at him. "Yes? What oh, honorable sire can I do for you?"

Mick looks at her and smiles. "Nice to see your sterling personality starting to shine through again. What you can do for me is, you can pick one of these guys and go over and sit on the couch and feed from him."

Veronica looks behind Mick. She sees three very good looking guys, all about her age, one with light brown hair, fair skin and blue eyes, the other two both have very dark brown hair and olive complexions. The only real difference she sees is that one has blue eyes and the other green eyes. She looks from them to Mick a couple of times and then shakes her head. "Nope." And begins to open her laptop again.

Mick puts his hand on the laptop and keeps her from opening it. "Veronica" he growls. "You will do this. It's something you need to do a few times before we go home."

She continues to shake her head. "I told you. Nobody but Logan."

He snorts at her. "I didn't say you had to have sex with them. I said I want you to feed from one of them. You need to do this before you try it with Logan. If you like, you could wait until we go home and have one of them come up to the apartment?"

Veronica narrows her eyes at Mick. "You know I don't want that." She looks behind him again and they all smile handsomely at her. They look rather pleased at the notion of letting her feed from them. "Why don't you guys go out to the pool and watch the girls. I need to have a chat with Mick."

They look at Mick and he closes his eyes and nods. "I'll come get one of you." He tells them.

They turn and leave for the pool.

Mick turns back and sits across from his hesitant fledgling. "Veronica we only have a few days left before we go home. If you do this as much as possible before we leave, and do as well as you have with the girls, there is a good chance that you can spend some time with Logan right away. It would have to be supervised at first but it shouldn't take long before you can spend some time together alone. Otherwise, it's a not going to happen until you do this. This is important and it's one of those nonnegotiable points."

Veronica can see the determination in his eyes but that doesn't mean she can't at least try and change his mind. "Mick I don't want to. I don't see why it's so important. I drank from the girls. How much different can it be?"

"Very different. You'll understand better after you drink from one of them. If you're going to be allowed to drink from Logan, you have to do this with a stranger first. In the beginning it's hard enough to control the blood lust from an opposite sex donor but even harder when you're in love with one. Add sex to the equation and if you're not prepared you've got a recipe for disaster." Mick gets up and pours himself a drink. "The other day Josef started to give me a bad time in front of you about how long it took me to drink from Beth and I shut him up, but he has a point. I was so in love with her and I wanted her so badly, that I was sure I would get lost in the feelings of euphoria and kill her because I wouldn't be able to stop." Mick looks off into the past and then glances at Veronica who is watching him. "You know the story about my saving Beth when she was four?"

Veronica nods not wanting to stop the flow of words from her sire.

"After that I didn't drink from a live donor for twenty-two years, until Beth made me drink from her so I wouldn't die in a deserted hotel in the desert."

Veronica's eyes get wide and she hopes he'll continue.

Mick takes a deep breath and gives her the short version about how he ended up drinking from Beth when he hadn't fed live in all those years. The silence stretches out and finally Veronica has to know more. "So after that you started drinking from Beth?"

Mick snorts. "No. Let's just say I had commitment issues. It took another year for me to admit to myself or to Beth that I was in love with her. Eventually I realized I could lose her if I didn't acknowledge to her that I loved her and do something about it. I still didn't drink from her but we started our relationship. It took her quite a while after that for her to convince me that if I wasn't going to hurt her when I was on the verge of death that I wasn't ever going to. We made love and I sunk my fangs into anything but Beth. My own arm, a pillow, whatever."

Veronica smiles at him. "I'm assuming you do now."

Mick smiles at her wistfully, thinking of Beth. "Oh, yea."

"What changed your mind?"

"Beth finally got through to me enough that I just took it slow. I started out drinking from her when we weren't making love until I was comfortable enough that I knew I wouldn't hurt her when we were. V, I'm not lying to you, granted, I had issues but you ask Josef, a lot of humans get killed this way. I don't want you to hurt Logan. If Grant is right the worst result would probably be his turning but that would not be good. You are not up to that challenge by any stretch of the imagination. Not only that but Logan's turning should be on his terms not because you've got hot pants and are out of control. Listen, do this for Logan. The better prepared you are for this the more you can make sure he enjoys it as much as I know you want him to. Of course the other alternative is that you don't feed from Logan and the two of you don't make love until after he's turned. It's your call but one way or the other you will do this if you don't want to wait."

He's not sure if it's the idea of waiting or what's best for Logan but he thinks he's gotten through to her. Mick watches her hoping her next move will be to pick either Jack or Connor as Jenny figured she would.

She lets out a sigh of acceptance. "Alright. I'll go get the dark haired one with the blue eyes. I don't want the fair-haired one at all. It would be too much like…. Logan. We'll do it in here but if he touches anything he isn't supposed to he's going to draw back a stub cuz I will cut his damn hand off."

Mick stands up. "Get comfortable. I'll go get him. His name is Jack. If you like the two dark haired ones you can drink from the other one later, his name is Connor, before you go to your freezer. You don't have to take much, just enough so you know your control is improving."

Mick gets to the pool and sees the young men sitting at a table leaning back watching the girls. He knows they are smart enough not to get too close to any of Josef's girls. They look up at Mick as he approaches. "Talk her into it?" Jack asks.

"Yes. Did Jenny tell you this is going to take the better part of a week?" He watches as they nod. "Right now Veronica only wants Jack and Connor but Scott I need you to stick around in case she changes her mind." _And so I can keep an eye on you._ "Fledglings are a bit unpredictable. I've got rooms for the three of you. You will stay in the common areas of the house if you're not in your room. If you don't bother the girls you can talk to them but if they tell you to leave them alone, do so because Josef has no sense of humor about anyone bothering the girls. If they're upset, they taste funny. He likes them happy and healthy." As if on cue, Emily walks up and sits down at the table with them. Mick turns to her. "This is Emily she's in charge of the girls. She can tell you about meals and show you your rooms and answer any other questions you have."

Emily looks up at Mick. "Are you going to have Veronica feed now and later?"

"Yes. I'll take Jack to her now and when she's done and he's rested a bit I'll show him to his room and see about something for him to eat. Jack, you know she's just a fledgling and hasn't fed from anyone but the girls before? She says if you touch anything you're not supposed to you'll draw back a stub and she means it. Can you handle that?"

He smiles up at Mick. "I've been at this a few years. Yea, I can handle it. She's not my first fledgling. You just make sure she doesn't get lost. I like my life."

"Not a problem. I have no intention of leaving you alone with her. She's got a human lover she wants to get back to and this is her only path. It's the only reason she agreed."

Jack laughs. "Man, some guys have all the luck."

"More than you know. He's Josef's son." Mick adds.

Scott's ears almost twitch when he hears this _. A vampire with a human son?_

Mick doesn't even move a muscle of recognition but he hears Scott's involuntary responses to the information about Logan. It doesn't last long but it's enough for Mick catch on that Scott is interested in Logan.

"And he's human?" Jack asks.

Mick nods. "For now. It's a long story. Just be good to Veronica. I want her to enjoy this so she understands what it's going to be like when she sees her human again."

Jack stands up. "Let's do this."

Mick turns to Connor. "Do whatever you want until say six am. Be awake and ready for her then."

Connor nods. "I'll be ready."

Veronica sits on the couch and waits for Mick to return with….Jack. She makes a sour face. She tries to see the best way to do this and decides to just stick with his forearm. At five foot one she's so much shorter than most people that so far she's stuck to forearms just because biting someone's neck would almost require her to sit in their lap or lay down next to them and she's sure as hell not going to do that with anyone but Logan. So far Mick hasn't said anything about it. Jack goes over and sits on the couch. Mick notices he gives Veronica some space. _Smart kid._ Mick goes over and sits at the desk picks up the paper hoping she can ignore him but every sense he has is tuned into the pair.

Veronica eyes Jack and sighs. "I'll put my back against you and you can wrap your arm around in front of me and I'll feed from your forearm."

He smiles and shrugs. "Hey whatever you want is fine. However, you're comfortable, you're the vamp."

Veronica moves against him and he holds his arm up and brings it around in front of her. Jack looks down at her. _I would love to lick her neck from back here but she'd probably cut my tongue out._

Veronica realizes that except for the chef, this is the first human male she has been in the house with since she was turned, never mind the same room. She takes a deep breath and uses her new heightened sense of smell. She'd forgotten how…very male they smell. She can hear the blood moving through his body and his heart beating. She runs her tongue over the vein in his arm. His skin tastes so very good. She hears a small moan and almost gets mad at him until she realizes it came from her own throat. Gently she runs her fangs across his skin and now she hears him moan. She smiles at the thought that she's not the only one affected by this. Veronica sinks her fangs into his arm in one quick movement.

Jack lays his head back on the coach and feels Veronica drink from his arm. _She can drink from me anytime._ He feels her tongue running across the wounds as she nurses the blood from his arm. His breathing picks up and he feels his body start to respond to her.

Veronica feels the blood run into her mouth and moans at the taste. Mick was so right. This is so much better than the girls, richer, fuller. She closes her eyes and just feels the ecstasy of the flavors of Jack's blood.

Mick watches her and senses her slipping away into the bliss of Jack's blood. Mick walks across the room and crouches down next to her. He whispers to her. "Come on Veronica concentrate on the freshie, not on how good he tastes. You can do that later when you've had more practice. Come on girl. Stay with it."

Veronica hears her inner predator snarl "No." at Mick's words.

Mick reaches over and rubs her arm. "Veronica, you can keep drinking as long as you don't take too much. You don't want to hurt Jack."

This time she heeds Mick's words and pulls herself back. She listens to Jack's heartbeat and his breathing. His heartbeat is a bit fast and his breathing seems shallow so she licks the blood from his arm until the puncture marks stop bleeding. She watches Jack as his breathing evens out and he's staring at the ceiling somewhat sleepily. She wonders if she should help him lay down but Mick stops her. "He's fine. Let him be for a bit."

Veronica looks up at Mick. "Shit. You weren't kidding. Ok, so now I know why I had to do this with Jack first. You're right this is way different than the girls." She smiles at Mick. "I can't wait to see Logan again."

Mick nods. "But first you have to do this a few times with either Jack or Connor. It's not something you can do just once and have under control."

She knows he's right. "All right but we're supposed to go home in another few days."

Mick nods "That's right. It's why I had her send more than just one. If you feed from Jack when you first wake up and then Connor before you go to your freezer you should get almost a dozen feedings before we go home. We should have a very good idea of how much control you have at that point. After that we'll see where you're at in relation to being with Logan. OK?"

Veronica nods. "I know I can do this." Veronica hesitates for a moment and continues. "Mick, nobody can know anything about this. You tell Josef to be quiet about this. I'll tell Logan about it at some point but I want it to come from me not anyone else. He may not understand until after he's turned."

Mick nods. "I'll tell Josef but I don't think you have to worry. You're right this is something you should explain to him."

Josef peaks in. "Did I hear my name?" he looks down at the drowsy freshie. "Looks like it went alright. He's alive and he looks pretty happy." Josef turns to Veronica. "So, what do you think?" He asks with a smirk on his face

"I think I'm going to start selling tickets." Veronica grumbles.

"Josef, behave." The last thing Mick wants is for Veronica to feel like she's under pressure.

Veronica stands up. "If it's ok, I'm going to go finish my email to Logan."

Mick nods. "Go ahead. I'll take care of Jack."

Josef and Mick watch her leave. Once again Josef looks down at Jack and then at Mick. "Really how did it go?"

Mick moves across the room to let Jack rest but he keeps track of him with his senses. "Not too bad. I had to intervene but not forcefully. I just had to remind her where she was. I think for a first time she did fine."

Josef nods absently. "I take it Jenny was right. Veronica wants Jack and Connor."

Mick smiles. "Whether they be humans or vamps Jenny knows people. That's why when Jenny says she thinks she's got a freshie that's up to no good, I listen to her."

Josef scowls. "I don't like having him in the house but if she's right we need to get to the bottom of it before he causes damage to the community. Have you had any interaction with him yet?"

Mick makes a face. "A little. I got a hit off of him when I mentioned Logan and it came out that he is human. He didn't show it but I got a sense that it interested him quite a bit."

Mick hears Josef let out a low growl. "If it's information he's looking for it will be interesting to see where it's going. Does he have a phone or anything else we can monitor?"

Mick snorts. "Jenny beat us to it, which is why we are going this route. She said he's been very careful which leads me to believe if he's up to something he's been at it for a while. He was freelance up until three months ago and most of the stuff that floats at that level is rumor with nuggets of fact here and there. Jenny's place though is a whole different ball game. There are a lot of deals done in her place. Never mind what would happen if it got out that she had a freshie that was selling information or doing anything else that might spook her clientele."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef watches Sarah out of the corner of his eye as she stands in the doorway watching him. Something is bothering her but he can't quite imagine what it is. He can see she's ready to talk about it but doesn't know where to begin. He gets up and crosses the room to her and takes her hand. "Talk to me. What's bothering you? You're not unhappy are you?"

Sarah smiles and rolls her eyes. "Hardly. I'm very happy."

Josef leads her over to the couch and sits down he gently pulls her into his lap and nuzzles her neck. "Then what's bothering you?"

She turns in his lap so she can see him. "Josef, how come you never let me feed from a male freshie like Veronica gets to?"

He smiles at her and she hears a low chuckle. "Honestly I'm not sure. I guess I just figured you'd mention it when you felt like you were ready. The only reason Veronica is doing it so soon is because of Logan. Otherwise, I think it would just happen when she was willing to try it. If you're interested, I can have Jenny send someone over. Whenever you're ready let me know and I'll call her."

Sarah nods. "Alright. I just thought maybe you didn't want me to drink from a human male."

Josef shakes his head. "No. I just didn't think much about it. I'm sorry. Let's get Mick and Veronica settled. They'll be going home soon and then we can either go to Jenny's together or I can have her send someone over. Whatever you want. All right?"

Sarah smiles and kisses him. "I love you."

"Good because I love you too."

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **A couple more to go**


	17. Chapter 17

**The wonderful shows Moonlight and Veronica Mars are owned by companies and people other than me. They are just places I go to play.**

 **This is a Moonlight / Veronica Mars crossover.**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Veronica marvels at what a blur the remaining two weeks are. On the last night before she goes to her freezer, Jack comes to her. She had fed from Connor earlier in the evening.

She looks at Jack. "How come you and Connor traded?"

He smiles at her. "I was your first. I might as well be your last before you go back to your boyfriend. We're rolling out of here as soon as you feed this last time, so this is good-bye."

She rolls her eyes and smiles at him. "Thanks, I guess."

He smiles at her and slowly shakes his head. "The pleasure is all mine." Before she can think of a retort he looks at her seriously. "I'm not making a pass at you." He quietly laughs. "I would if I thought it would do me any good, but I'm not. I mean it. It was nice feeding you all week. It felt right to do this with you. You come see me at Jenny's any time. Maybe once your boyfriend is turned you can come together and he can find someone he might like to feed from."

Veronica scrunches her nose at him and he laughs. "You really are a fledgling. You'll get over that jealousy of yours soon enough. Now let's finish this so I can go home."

Mick peaks in one last time and sees how well she's adapted to drinking from the freshie. He's prepared her as best he can. Now if she can have that kind of control with Logan things will move fast for all of them. Mick mentally crosses his fingers and smiles.

Once the male freshies are off the property Mick goes in search of Josef. He finds Josef and Sarah in the library. "I just wanted to let you know that Veronica did really well with her last several feedings. She didn't have any trouble at all. I think when we get back if she and Logan want to spend time together its fine."

Josef smirks at Mick. "Alone, together or watched together?"

Mick smiles thoughtfully. "I think whatever they want is fine. I suspect that right now Logan is going to let her lead them back to where they were before she was turned and she won't go there unless she's ready. I don't think it will be long before they are living under one roof again, whether he's turned or not. One thing about Veronica and her issues with control, it will serve her well in this case. I'm not too worried about them sleeping together."

Josef nods. "That's good to hear. You know she's not going to want to be alone for a while yet."

Mick smiles. "She won't be alone she has Logan."

"You know what I mean. Her comfort zone is with you and even me to some extent. She's part of the tribe and she's going to need to feel that connection for a while."

"Well, this member of the tribe is going to be across the hall from her. Josef, I'm not saying it's going to happen right away. I told her I won't leave her until she asks me to. It's better that way because it's at her pace."

Josef laughs. "If you said that to any other fledgling I'd worry but this one will want her independence as soon as she can stand it."

Mick nods. "Which is why we're going home tonight when we get up. It's time. Her natural independence is slowly starting to resurface and I want to encourage it."

Josef smiles. "I figured as much when you let Jack and Connor go. Did you tell Veronica about Scott?"

"No, I didn't want her upset or make her suspicious of Jack and Connor. I only wanted her concentrating on them and her control. I'll tell her when we get back and things settle down again."

"I will drive you home on my way to the office. Have you called Beth and given her the good news?"

"No, I want to surprise her even if I'm going to be staying across the hall."

Josef nods. Someone's going to be surprised all right but it won't be Beth.

"Josef, have you and Gabriel talked to Logan about being turned yet?"

Josef shakes his head. "No. I think I'm going to let it go until he asks me about it again. Like you said, it's better if it's at their pace. I'm glad it sounds like Veronica did so well with Jack and Connor. I talked to the girls about our guests. The consensus is that Jack and Connor are both good guys and minded their own business." Josef smiles to himself and glances at Sarah "I may invite them back as it's been pointed out to me, that I may have neglected some of my responsibilities in that area."

Mick watches a bit amused, as Sarah looks a little embarrassed. "I'm assuming the reports were less than glowing about Scott? I tried to keep an eye on him but he seemed to spend most of his time in his room if he saw me coming. I didn't catch him doing anything out of the ordinary besides his heightened interest in Logan."

Josef nods. "Which pretty much dovetails with what the girls said. Em found him in here looking at the picture on the desk."

Mick walks over and turns the picture around to see which one it is and shakes his head. "Crap." It's a picture taken a couple of months ago of Josef and Logan with Veronica standing between them.

"Yes. So, now he doesn't have physical proof but he has seen visual proof that he can pass on. Emily also said that he tried to lightly question her about Veronica and Logan but she played dumb and didn't tell him anything. Actually all the girls played dumb and he bought it. So, what he knows is that Logan is my son and he's human and not much else."

Mick shakes his head. "Let's hope that whoever he's passing information to already knows that part of the puzzle. A pretty wide swath of the community knows about Logan and some of them don't all care who they gossip to."

Josef nods. "That and some of them would love to see me fall so they can take my place. Although if this is a human thing, they may keep their mouths shut. It's one thing to use other vamps to get at me but it's another to invite the humans into it." Josef shrugs. "We'll just have to make sure someone keeps an eye on him and we watch for trouble."

Mick smiles. "Just like always."

That night as they get ready to go, Josef finds Veronica saying good-bye to the girls. "When you're done there I need to talk to you for a minute."

Once she's done she follows Josef into the other room. Veronica smiles at him. "Josef, I want to thank you for all you've done for me. I'll never forget any of it."

Josef kisses her cheek. "It was my pleasure." He sighs. "Listen, I want to tell you something. Mick cares for you a great deal. You know that right?"

Veronica nods. "Yes. I love him too. It's like having a second dad."

Josef nods. "That's good but at some point he's going to turn Beth; you know that?"

Veronica smiles and nods "Yea, so?"

Josef gently holds on to her arms. "So, when they get to that point, if you need anything, I mean anything, I want you to call me instead of Mick. I don't care what it is. I don't care if that son of mine has royally screwed up, it doesn't matter. You're my family and I care about you a great deal. Mick would kill me for telling you this but when it comes time for him to turn Beth I would like him to be able to concentrate on just that. Do you understand?"

Veronica nods and scowls as tears start glisten in her lashes.

Josef can feel her trying to keep herself from crying. "Damn. I'm sorry. Don't think this was Mick's idea. It wasn't. He'd stake me over an open fire if he heard me telling you this. It's not because he doesn't care. I just want him to be able to turn Beth and not have any other worries."

Veronica shakes her head. "Josef, I'm fine."

He looks at her closely. "You're sure?"

"Yes." She gives him a quick hug. "It's so nice to have so many people who care about me. Thanks Josef. I can't imagine what could happen but I'll do as you ask."

Josef watches as she turns so he can't see her wipe the unshed tears from her eyes.

"Let's go. I'm sure Logan is impatient to have you home." He puts an arm across her shoulders and they walk to the car together.

Josef and Veronica find Sarah and Mick already at the car. Mick looks at Veronica closely and then narrows his eyes at Josef. He looks back at Veronica. "What's the matter? You're upset."

She nods. "Just saying good- bye to the girls and thanking Josef."

Mick looks at her suspiciously. "You're sure?"

She smiles at him. "Yes. I'm fine. Let's go home."

Josef parks next to Mick's Benz. They approach the elevator and get in and Mick realizes because he wanted to surprise Beth he didn't get an elevator key from her. He pulls out his phone to call her and Josef smiles and puts his hand on Mick's arm to stop him. "Some of us think ahead." Josef pulls out a key and inserts it into the lock so the elevator will recognize the top floor of the building.

Mick smiles and shakes his head. "I should have known."

They ride the elevator up to the top floor and the doors open. Beth is standing in the hallway holding Shannon; Logan is standing next to her. Gabriel and Finn are standing just behind them.

Mick glances at Josef. "You set me up."

Josef laughs. "Not me. Talk to your women."

Veronica moves first as she launches herself at Logan. She stops short and pulls back just before she reaches him so she won't bowl him over.

Logan takes Veronica in his arms and hugs her tight. He kisses her and he hears a small moan. His hands begin to roam her body and she pulls him into a tighter kiss until they hear Josef mumble something about small children being present. Veronica pulls back and winks at Logan.

Mick moves to Beth and hugs her and Shannon. Beth notices even as he hugs her, he has one eye on Veronica. She smiles to herself with acceptance. She knows this is the way it's going to be for a while. She's just glad they are home. She's accepted that it's a fact that when you fall in love with a vampire, somethings just are, the way they are.

Beth moves to Finn and hands Shannon to him. He smiles and takes the little girl in his arms. "We'll see you tomorrow sometime late. Have fun and sleep in." He looks down at Shannon rubbing her eyes and yawning. "I'm going to take her inside now. It looks to me like it's a one bedtime story night." Mick looks confused but kisses Shannon on the top of her head before Finn and Gabriel move away and disappear into the apartment.

Beth tugs on Mick's arm pulling him towards their apartment. He digs his heels in. "What is going on?"

Beth smiles at him. "Veronica, thought that you and I should have an evening alone since you've been gone so long."

Mick looks at Veronica and scowls. "Who's going to stay with you? I don't think you should be alone your first night back."

Veronica grins at him. "I won't be. Logan will be with me."

Josef throws a knowing glance at Mick. He's glad they discussed this earlier and Mick had given him his assurances that he felt Veronica was going to be alright on her own with Logan.

"Are you sure?" Mick asks her quietly.

She understands immediately what he's really asking her. "Yea, everything will be all right."

Josef glances at Logan who isn't surprised in the least. They planned this.

Veronica crosses over to Mick who is still watching her and kisses him on the cheek. "Trust me. You've taught me well." Veronica grins at Beth. "Would you get him out of here?"

Mick nods. "Thank you." He smiles down at Beth. "We have a great family. You realize that don't you?"

"You'll get no argument from me." She pulls on his hand again but this time she gets no resistance. He follows her gladly into the apartment.

Josef watches them go and smiles. He glances at Logan and Veronica who have almost forgotten he's still there. He clears his throat and they both turn and look at him quizzically. "Listen, just remember that Gabriel and Finn are next door if…"

Veronica shakes her head. "You two are impossible. Go to work. Logan will call you before you get to your freezer in the morning."

Josef nods and waves as he walks to the elevator "Have fun."

Mick hears the door close behind him and he smiles down at Beth. The desire he's been holding at bay come forth. He leans in and kisses her passionately. He pulls back and looks down at her. He takes her hand and kisses her palm. "I've missed you so much." He looks into her eyes and sees everything he wants mirrored back at him. "I'm so glad you're home." she answers him. He kisses her again and turns her around so she's pressed against the door. Mick ravishes her mouth and hears the moans she brings forth as her body arches to mold to his. Beth feels his hands cup her bottom as he pulls her tight against his body. All of Mick's senses are under assault by her desire. He lets out a low growl and sweeps her up in his arms and she lets out a small gasp of delight. Beth kisses his neck and nips at his jaw. He moves quickly to the stairs and into the bedroom. He puts her down and cups her face in his hands and kisses her deeply. Waves of desire wash over Beth. She moans into his mouth. Beth breaks the kiss and steps back from him and tantalizingly she begins to strip for him.

Logan and Veronica enter the apartment. Logan kisses her hard pouring all the emotion he can into the kiss. Veronica senses his emotion and desire behind the kiss and it almost buckles her knees. She's always known he loves her but to feel it on this level almost staggers her. She's never truly appreciated how much she means to him until now. She wonders how much more she'll feel when she tastes his blood. He starts to lead her to the stairs but she stops him. "I didn't think about this till just now but I hope there is blood around here somewhere because I really need to have something before we go any farther. If there isn't I'll go next door and get some from Gabriel."

Logan's face lights up. "Hey, that's right. You haven't seen the new fridge or the new freezers. Follow me." He walks into the kitchen and slides back a panel just like the one Mick uses across the hall. He takes out a tall carafe of blood and pours her a glass and hands it to her. "Here you go." His fingers brush hers as she takes the glass and the electricity jumps between them. She smiles to herself. Wordlessly she drinks it down and watches him. He takes her hand again and leads her up the stairs. Logan opens a large door and inside there are two freezers side by side. Logan smiles at her. "I got to thinking about this and once I'm turned, if you want, we can get a nice double wide freezer like Josef and Sarah have." The image of Veronica and Mick inside Josef's freezer momentarily invades his thoughts. He shakes it off but not before Veronica senses the shift in his mood. "What?"

"Nothing." He can see she's not buying it and he sighs. "When you were first hurt Beth and I insisted on seeing you and Mick. Josef told us your condition and all that but you know…..we both just needed to physically see the two of you. There you were curled up next to Mick in Josef and Sarah's freezer. I know why it had to be that way but you know, it sort of hit me hard at first."

Now it's Veronica's turn to take his hand. "You know something odd, I know that we were in that freezer together for a week because they told me we were but I have absolutely no recollection of anything from the time I was shot until I woke up and Josef scared me half to death. I never really thought about it until now."

"Really?"

"Really. Logan, you know sleeping with Mick never entered my mind. I really gave Josef hell for telling you something like that." She takes a step closer to him. "You're the only one I ever wanted." Veronica leads him into their bedroom. "Lay down." He watches her from the bed as she slides next to him. "Logan, Mick insisted that I drink from male freshies before I came home so I would be better prepared and I wouldn't hurt you." He starts to interrupt but she stops him. "Listen, this is probably going to sound dumb but I always drank from their arms, in part because all I could think about was laying down next to you on our bed tasting your blood from your neck. If it's all right with you I'd like to do that…."

The image of the freshie that Josef was feeding from that day he'd walked in at the house comes to mind and he smiles. "Just tell me what you want me to do." And she does.

Veronica only intends to take a little blood from him so they will both know what to expect if she bites him when they are making love. She wants to know and feel and taste his blood first. She also doesn't want him so tired from the blood loss that the night will be lost to them. They get into a comfortable position and she sinks her fangs into his neck.

Logan feels a momentary sting and then it is replaced by the feeling of his blood flowing into her mouth. The feeling of her drinking his blood makes him moan with pleasure. In response he begins to run his hands over her body. She hears herself moan as she feels his hands on her body. She gently licks the wounds on his neck until they stop bleeding and she swings her leg over his body so she's straddling him. She looks down and smiles at him. "I want you so much." He pulls her down to him and they find their way back to each other.

Later Veronica rolls over and watches Logan as he sleeps. She kisses his temple and starts to move out from under the sheets and he sleepily grabs for her. "Please don't leave. I know you can't sleep here every night but just tonight please stay here with me."

She nods and moves back into the bed. He snuggles up behind her and holds her tight against his body. She smiles as she feels his body start to wake up to hers…..

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef looks up as Logan walks through the door to his office. He wonders what's brought his son here. Josef stands up before Logan can get to the desk. He moves to the more relaxed surroundings away from the desk. Logan follows him and sits across from him. Josef smiles at him. "So?"

Logan smiles. "So, I wanted to tell you I've decided to wait for a while before I'm turned."

Josef leans back. "You know my feeling on the subject. I think this is a good idea but I'm curious as to why."

"Well, the book is almost done and I have ideas for a couple more and I'd like to write them from my current perspective as a human. There is no way I'm going to look at the world the same once I become a vampire."

Josef is very pleased to hear Logan's reasoning. He's proud of how far Logan has come in the last few years. "You've got that right. You'll never look at things the same after that. Have you talked to Veronica about this? How are things going with you two?"

Logan laughs. "Yea, she just wants me to do what makes me happy but I also suspect it has a little to do with the taste of my blood."

Josef smiles. "I can see that."

Logan snorts and continues. "Veronica and I are great. Things couldn't be better. I probably would have just gone ahead and been turned if it had turned out that we couldn't be together. As it is, things are very good at home so there isn't any rush. Mick is still sleeping at the apartment but I think she's getting close to letting him go home."

Josef frowns. "Logan, don't push her."

Logan shakes his head. "I'm not. Want to go have a beer with me?"

Josef smiles. "Make it a scotch and you've got a deal."

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

 **Well, that's all…**


End file.
